High School's Not That Bad
by PrincessCool
Summary: AU All the Esca-Characters are normal people on earth. Van's the new kid in school, and Hitomi's the loser outcast. Includes Dilandau, Millerna, Allen, Folken and Dryden. COMPLETE!
1. Default Chapter

High School's Not That Bad.  
  
Right. Not many people do these types of fic, and, personally, i love 'em. In this fic, Hitomi has a twin brother, as well as a little brother, and she has to take care of them both, because their parents are dead. Folken is Vans older brother, and Merle is his little sister. Both of his parents are alive. Hitomi's also a bit of an outcast, and is REALLY protective over her brothers. Vans the 'New Kid' in town (as per-usual), and, surprise, surprise, he fancies the pants off Hitomi.  
  
Chapter 1. First impressions.  
  
"Great", thought Hitomi, "Another crap day, in a crap school, in my crap little life". The school bus came to a halt, outside Tratchen High. Hitomi walked out of the school bus, in absolutely no hurry to get to the front steps of the school. In the corner of her eye, Hitomi caught a glimpse of her younger brother, Daniel. Hitomi and Daniel were in the same class at school, because they were twins. Hitomi was always counted as the 'responsible' one, because she was a pathetic 20-minutes older than Daniel. Because of those 20-minutes, Daniel thought that was an excuse to act like a baby. Daniel looked at her, and with his eyes, he was telling her not to come near him. Hitomi was counted the outcast, and loser of the school, while Daniel was probably the most popular boy in the school, and if Hitomi hung out with him, it would ruin his reputation. At school, he liked to pretend he didn't even know Hitomi, even though everyone knew they were twins. Hitomi turned the other way, and came face to face with her mortal enemy- The Principle of Tratchen High. "Urgh!", thought Hitomi. "Miss Kanzaki", said Mr. Thatcher, "Would you please tell me why you did not bother to turn up to your detention last night?" "No!", said Hitomi mentally, "Ummmmmmmmm, well you see Principle Thatcher, i had LOTS of homework last night, and i also had to look after mt brothers, and i had to do ALL of the chores, so, I'm as disappointed as you are sir, but, sadly, i just don't have the time anymore!", said Hitomi, exagerating. "I find it very hard to believe, that you still have to take care of a 16 year old, and a 13 year old, as if they are babies!" "I know its sad Sir", said Hitomi, "But its true!" "Enough of the sarcasim, Miss Kanzaki", said Principle Thatcher, "If you do not turn up tonight, then it will be a whole weeks worth. And if you get sent to my office, once today, then it will be a months worth of detention!" And with that, the VERY tiny Priciple stalked off, no doubt searching for another helpless victim to torture with his evil detentions. "Don't worry, Umpa- Lumpa!", thought Hitomi, "I wouldn't want to go anywhere near your office." A Few Hours Later Hitomi made her way over to her next class. As the very tall girl, with short brown hair, and beautiful green eyes sat down, all of the stupid people in her class made their fair share of nasty remarks. "Alright, bogey eyes?!" "Grow your hair, you man!" Hitomi was used to this crap, as she had put up with it for 10 years of her life. She chose to ignore them all, and stare out of the window. As she looked, she saw a family approaching the front of the school. The father, was tall and had black hair. The mother, had long black hair as well, and was wearing a very pretty outfit. There were then, two boys, and one girl. The tallest boy, was very tall, and had spikey, blue hair. The girl, was short, and had short pink hair. The last child, was a boy, with unruly black hair, and he was kind of tall. They stopped at the school doors, and the parents started to talk to Principle Short-Man. The boy with black hair, looked around, seeming interested in the school. He looked up at the top window, where Hitomi was. He stared at her, while she stared at him. His face then split into a wide grin. Hitomi, without hesitation, shoved her middle finger up at him, and turned to look at her teacher, without looking at his reaction. Halfway through the lesson, Hitomi got extremely bored, (As you do in most lessons) and looked out of the window again. The boy with black hair, and his family, had gone. She then turned to her bag, searched around for something, and pulled out a pack of Skittles. She opened the pack, put one into her mouth, and began to chew. As she did, though, Madison, the most popular girl in the school, saw her chewing. "Um, Miss", she whined, "Hitomi's chewing something". The whole class looked at Hitomi, and started tutting, and waggling their fingers in a taunting way. "Get bent", said Hitomi, and she spat the sweet in Madisons face. Madison screamed, and ran around the clasroom with flem in her eyes. The whole class was screaming and shouting, while the teacher was trying to controll them all. "Miss Kanzaki!", she roared, "No eating in class! Get outside the Priciples office, NOW!" "Haha!", Hitomi laughed, as she picked up her bag. "I get to ditch French! In your face, LOSERS!" Hitomi then ran out of the classroom, before her teacher could react. Half- way down the corridor, she could still hear the uproar that she had created. When Hitomi arrived at the Priciples office, she heard voices. Hoping Priciple Short-Man was on the phone, Hitomi banged open the door, as loud as possible. But, he wasn't on the phone. The family she had seen through the window, were sitting opposite Shorty, and they were now all staring at her. "Oh, hi Sir", said Hitomi loudly, hoping to annoy him, "I was sent here, by Miss Bloom, for eating in class." "Right then", said Shorty calmly, obviously trying to make out to the parents, that he was a patient man. This would have been a good cover-up for his usual anger, if his eyes weren't bulging out of his head. "Miss Kanzaki, would you please wait outside, as i have an appointment right now", indicating the family in front of him. "Nope", said Hitomi, and she dragged a chair from the side of the room, sat on it, and put her feet on his desk. Shorty pushed her feet of of his desk, and said to the family: "As you see, at our school, we accept all types of children, even ones with, um, problems". "I don't have any problems", said Hitomi, "And when you say problem, your obviously indicating me, as a retard". Shorty's eyes bulged out so far, that Hitomi was pretty sure that they'd be rolling on the floor any second. The boy with black hair, stared at Hitomi, obviously trying not to laugh. "Um", said Shorty, "I think we should leave it at this. Mr and Mrs Fanel, i hope your children enjoy their time at my school. If you wish, they could start on Monday." "Yes, thankyou", said the woman, or Mrs. Fanel. The boy with black hair grinned at Hitomi once more, and followed his parents out of the office. "YOU COMPLETELY RUINED THAT!!!!!!!!!!", roared Shorty, "I TOLD YOU THAT I DIDN'T WANT YOU SENT TO MY OFFICE TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "Well", said Hitomi, "I didn't ruin it, because those kids are going to be starting here on Monday." At that time, the bell went, indicating the end of school. And with that, Hitomi marched out of the school, purposly fogetting about her detention.  
  
  
  
Well, that was the first chappie. Hope you liked it. Should i continue, or not? PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WILL MEAN SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	2. The First Day

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thankyou for my reveiwers!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!! Yeah, sorry about the lay-out, my computers xtremely mucked up. I'm glad you liked Hitomi's attitude! I wanted her to have a bit of an attitude problem! But don't worry, she'll be like that throughout the WHOLE fic! You have my word for it! Oh well, on with the next chappie.................  
  
Chapter 2- The First Day.  
  
On Monday morning, Hitomi decided that she and her 13 year old brother, Julien would walk to school that day. Daniel had refused, as he didn't want to be seen with her, so he caught the bus. As Hitomi and Julien approached the lower part of the school, she saw the girl and the mother from last Friday. The mother was saying good-bye to the girl with pink hair, while she was looking around nervously. "Now don't worry, sweet heart", the mother (Mrs. Fanel) was saying, "You'll have a great day. If anything goes wrong, you know where i'll be". 'Urgh, yuck!' thought Hitomi, 'I'd kill myself if my mother started fussing over me on my first day at High School!' "Right", she said, turning to Julien, "In you go. 'If anything goes wrong, you know where i'll be!", she said, mocking the woman near her. As Julien went into the building, Hitomi turned, and went into her part of the school. As she made her way over to the science room, she saw the black haired boy again. By the look of things, the boys dad was giving him the same prep-talk as the mother did with the daughter. As the dad was still talking, the boy looked at her. As Hitomi drew nearer, the boy, once again, smiled at her. 'God!', thought Hitomi, 'These people MUST be clones of the Brady-Bunch or something!' When Hitomi was just about level with him, instead of smiling back, she done the loudest burp imaginable in his face! The father looked just as shocked the boy did. 'That should teach him to bugger-off!' she thought. How WRONG she was. Everyone was mucking about as she entered the classroom, and a look of disappointment came over Madisons face. "Oh, didn't they expell you?", she said, "I wish they would!" Hitomi smiled sarcastically at her, and sat at her usual bench at the back. The teacher arrived in the classroom, and begab to speak. "Well class", she said, "We have a new student with us today!" "If it's that Brady-Kid, i'm gonna KILL myself!" "Could you please welcome, Van Fanel" And in stepped the black haired boy. 'NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' thought Hitomi, 'And no i can't welcome him!' Van grinned broadly at everyone around him ('Urgh'-Hitomi), and his eyes layed on Hitomi. 'If your face cracks into a grin one more time, Fish-boy, then you won't have a face by the time i'm done with you!' thought Hitomi. (A/N-She seems to think an awful lot, doesn't she?!) Guess what Van does-SMILES!! 'That does it!' "Right Van", said the teacher, "I'm just going to check something. Why don't you decide where to sit?" "Kay", said Van. 'Don't even think about it!' said Hitomi outloud. And yet, he still did it. "Hi, i'm Van!" "I know" "Mind if i sit here?", indicating the seat next to Hitomi. "Yes", said Hitomi. "Whats your name, anyway?" "Bugger off!" "Weird name" "Quit being smart!" "I'm not" "Yes you are! Now piss off" "Now, now, no need for bad language!" "GET STUFFED" "Fine!" Soooooooooooooo, Van stalked off, and sat down next to Daniel. "If that little shit comes into my apartment, i'll tear his little head off!" she thought outloud. The teacher came in, holding all sorts of acids, and dangerous stuff. Once everyone had their 'dangerous' chemicals, the teacher started rambling on, about a bunch of crap. Hitomi got REALLY bored, and started fiddling with her bottle of acid. She looked up, then back down to the bottle. She looked up again, but this time, at the back of Vans head. Then back to the bottle. Here, in her own hands, she had a bottle of acid, and a few spaces in front of her, there was the person she had hated, in the first 5 minutes of their meeting. Hitomi then started fantisising, about Van running aroud, with his head dissolving into nothing. She couldn't help but smile, at her little thought. As class ended, Daniel approached Hitomi, with Van hovering nervously over his shoulder. "Hey Hitomi", he said. "What do you want?", she replied to her brother. He only ever spoke to her when he wanted something. He must want to speak to her about something important, because he was speaking to her in school. "I was just wondering if Van could come over tonight?" "No" "Why not?" "Because i said so". "Yeah, and i said WHY NOT!" "You two sat next to eachother, for like, 1 hour and your already acting like your best friends?!" "Hey!", said Daniel, "Just because you don't have any, doesn't mean you have to take it out on me!" "Oh, get bent!" Daniel turned to Van, and said: "Don't worry. You can still come over". And with that, Daniel walked off. "I don't have to come over of you don't want me too", said Van. "Whatever", said Hitomi. "I was just trying to be nice!" "Well don't! Just take a hint, and piss off!" "I don't know why i even bother!" shouted Van. "Oooooooooooooooooooooooo! Don't get your knickers in a twist, you faggit!" Van gave Hitomi a dirty look, and stormed off down the corridor. "God! He's acting like he's known me all my life, when i've only known him for 5 minutes. Oh, i don't know. Maybe i'll suck up, then when it's dinner time, i'll slip poison into his food." Hitomi smirked, "He's such a fucking faggit!" "Well, well, well. We are in trouble, aren't we?"  
  
************************ Theres the 2nd chappie! Hope you liked it! Thanx for all those who review! I made Hitomi as rude as possible! And a got a bit of bitching in there! I know the chappie's out soon, but my sister made me do it! I'l have the next one out soon! 


	3. Dinner Time!

Thanx for all those who reviewed! I'm gonna say this again-I'm SO sorry about the layout. I set it up on the computer, and then it doesn't go how i want it to in Fanfiction.net. Typical! I'll try to find a way, so it will be easier for you guys to read. I would like to say, well done to 'bishouji88', for writing the best fanfic i have ever read, a 'Normal Life'. Well Done! Anyway, hope you like the next chappie, and as always, R&R!!!!!  
  
Chapter 3. Dinner Time!  
  
"Well, well, well! We are in trouble, aren't we?"  
  
Hitomi turned around, and came face to face with Short man of the year.  
  
'Great!', thought Hitomi, 'Just great! First faggit starts chatting me up, now i'm in trouble with  
  
Umpa-Lumpa!'  
  
"Miss Kanzaki", Shorty started, "Would you like to tell me, why you walked out of my office,  
  
infront of my face, when we had a detention planned?" "Urgh!, said Hitomi. She was ready to tell Shorty, just what she thought of him, "I walked out of your office, because i am SO sick of having to face you every day! My life is miserable enough, without you joining in! I have to sacrifice EVERYTHING, because of my brothers. So, sir, could you please get off my back, for one second, in your sad, pathetic little life!" Only she didn't say it. She shouted it. Everyone in the corridor was staring ay her, looks of shock over their faces. The principle looked furious. Everyone was still and staring, waiting to see what was going to happen. When Hitomi finally gave up, she pushed passed Umpa-Lumpa, and ran out of the whole school. *Hitomi* 'Why must he always bring out the worst in people? Don't you dare cry Hitomi. You haven't cried for nearly 10 years, so don't start now! /As she enters her apartment./ Oh well. If faggit (Van) is coming over tonight, i'd better get this place cleaned up, and then i should go to the shops to get some food.'  
  
*Van* 'Wow! She has one heck of a temper! I feel kinda bad for her, actually. I'd hate to have to give up my life for Merle and Folken. /Bell rings/ Oh crap!!!'  
  
Hitomi was just putting the dinner in the stove, when she heard a knock on the door. 'That must be Daniel, and Faggit-i mean Van!!' Hitomi reluctantly went to answer the door, as she NEVER trusted Daniel with anything as small as a key-or anything else. When Hitomi went to answer the door, Julien came rushing through the door, and slammed his bag on the floor. Van and Daniel followed. "Hey Juli", said Hitomi, "Whats wrong?" "I'll tell you whats wrong", said Julien, "This girl came into school today, and started taking the mick out of me. When i told her to quit it, everyone told me to stop bullying her. Now she's being a cow, and i've got no one to back me up!" Julien then threw himself onto the couch, and glared at everything around him. "Hey", said Daniel, "Why didn't you tell me that, when i asked what was wrong?" "Because", said Hitomi, "He feels he can come to me, because i'm not too busy thinking about how i can impress everyone all the time. Who was this girl, anyway!" "Oh!", said Julien, "She's the new girl. Her names Merle, or something". "Merle", said Hitomi, thoughtfully. "Oh......."said Van. He felt very strange. Merle, his little sister, was bullying Hitomi's younger brother. "Vannnnnnnnnnn!" "Wha............oh!", said Van. He had been daydreaming, while little thoughts flew across his mind. "Come on, i'll show you around", said Daniel. "Right", said Van. "Come on Juli!", said Hitomi, "Cheer up. If you want, you could help me try to brew a poison to kill Van!" Julien couldn't help but smile. His siter always knew how to cheer him up. "Yeah, OK!" "Great", she said. *At Dinner* "Dan, Van, dinner time!", shouted Hitomi. Daniel and Van came through to the kitchen table, and sat down. Sadly, Hitoim couldn't find any poison, but she had tried looking for some laxative (?), but no such luck with that, either. Halfway through the meal, Daniel decided to go to the toilet. While he was gone, Van bombarded Hitomi with questions. "Why are you so cold to me?", he asked. "Because i don't like you", said Hitomi, with no tone. "What?!", said Van, "Why?" "Because your too nice." "Well, not everyones dead inside, like you!" "Excuse me?!", said Hitomi. "Well", said Van. Now it was his turn to be mean. "You can't blame me for saying that, can you? Everytime someone tries to get close to you, you just push them away! Don't think i don't know, that when you daydream, your thinking of evil things to do to me! Why don't you just lighten up, 'Ice- Queen'!" "Are you shouting at me?", said Hitomi, looking scary. "What?", said Van. "You better not be shouting at me", Hitomi warned. "If you are, there's some kitchen knives over there, and i'm sure they'de be happy to help me rip your face off!! Van was about to say something back, when Daniel returned. "Whats up with you guys?", asked Daniel, seeing the unhappy faces on both Van and Hitomi. "Nothing!", snapped Hitomi, "If anyone wants me, i'll be in my room." "Whatever!", said Daniel, not really caring, "So, Van........." *A Few Hours Later* /Phone Ringing/ "Juli!", Daniel screamed, "Get the phone!" Daniel was really bored, seeing as Van's older brother, Folken, had come to pick him up a few hours earlier. "Hello?", said Julien, as he picked up the phone, "Yeah, i'll just get her for you. Hey! Hitomi! Phone!" "Kay!" Hitomi went to where the phone was, and Julien gave it too her. "Hello? Is this Hitomi Kanzaki?" "Ummmm, yeah", said Hitomi. "Well", said the woman on the other end of the line, "This is the secretary of Tratchen High...." 'Oh great!', thought Hitomi. "As you have recently been showing constant bad behaviour Miss Kanzaki, then we would like to ask you to not come to school, until next Monday." "Your.......your suspending me?", asked Hitomi, shocked. "Yes, we are. For a week." 'Cha-ching!' thought Hitomi. 'I rock!' "Oh. Well. OK then. Thankyou for telling me". And she hung up. "YES!", shouted Hitomi, "I am so LUCKY!!!! Woohoo! No school for a week! And i can eat this time, 'cause i'm not ill!" *The Next Day at School* "Where's Hitomi today?", asked Van. He was ready to apologiese for his rude behavior from last night. "Oh!", said Daniel, "She's been suspended." "Suspended?!" "Yeah. We got a telephone call last night from the school office. The said they didn't want to see her here until next week. Apart from when she has to pick Julien up, of coarse. "Wow!", said Van, heading for class. 'Maybe i'll be able too see her, when i pick Merle up tonight', thought Van. ************************************* Well. There's another chapter done. Hope you liked it! I have an idea about whats gonna happen, but i'm not gonna tell you! Hahahahaha! But there's gonna be MORE arguments! Didn't think that was possible, did you?! I'll have the next chappie out soon! As always, Read and Reveiw-PLEASE!!!!! 


	4. Conflict

Hello! Thanx to all those who reveiwed! I was just thinking, when i finish that fic, should i do a sequel, like, when they're in college? But don't worry, this fic won't be ending any time soon! It's just a thought. Please review to tell me! Right, on with the fic!  
  
Chapter 4-Conflict.  
  
As the last bell of the day went, Van walked over to the lower part of the school straight away. As he got there, there were lots of kids, all of them surronding a few other kids. He was walking up to the crowd, when in the corner of his eye, he saw Hitomi rushing over. She had a puzzled look on her face, as she saw the crowd of children. Van came and stood next to her. He was about to ask her, if she was OK, when she took off, and pushed her way through the crowd. Van followed her closely. When they got to the centre of the crowd, Hitomi suddenly came to a halt. Julien was lying there, all battered and bruised. He had a massive nose bleed, and a bruise was beginning to form above his eye. "Julien!", shouted Hitomi. She moved forwards to where he was, bent down, and helped him stand up. Most of the kids around them had smirks on their faces. "Juli!", said Hitomi, "Juli! Who did this! Answer me Juli!" "She got them all against me!", said Julien. "Who did! Juli!" "The one who i told you about!", he said weakly, "Merle!" "Right, thats it!", said Hitomi, "Which one you little gits is Merle?! Mmm! Which one of you is the one that took my little brothers friends, and got them to beat him up? Well?!" Van was looking at the girl, with a pained look on his face. He looked extremely disappointed. "Juli?", said Hitomi, "Which one's 'Merle'?! "That one!", said Julien, weakly. And he pointed to the girl with pink hair. The smirk was gone from her face now. "Did you get them to do this?!", asked Hitomi, roughly. Merle didn't answer. "I said...", shouted Hitomi, "Did you get them to do this?!" "Yes!", she said, in a squeaky tone. "So!", said Hitomi, "You admit it! Would you think it was funny, if i got all of your friends, and got them to beat you up? Well, would you?!" "Hey!", said Van, "Hitomi! Lay of her!" "Why?!", said Hitomi, turning on Van, "Why, Van! I don't see you defending anyone here! How is this any of your business?" "It is my business", snapped Van, "Because Merle is my younger sister!" "Oh!", said Hitomi, "Is that so? Well, 'Mister I Know Everything About Everyone', why don't you teach your 'sister' some manners?" Van looked at Hitomi, then at Juliens battered face, and then at Merle. "Come on Merle", said Van. "Lets go home." "Home?", said Hitomi, faintly. "Your taking her home? Without telling her to lay off my brother. Without telling her to learn some manners? Without telling her to stop being a little bitch?!" Vans head snapped to look at Hitomi. He then grabbed her arm. "What did you just call my sister?!", he whispered dangerously. "I called her a BITCH!", said Hitomi. "If you EVER insult my family again, Hitomi Kanzaki, then you'll have to answer to me!" And with that, he grabbed Merles' arm, and stalked off. "Oh!", said Hitomi, "For a minute then, i was really scared!" Van turned his head to look at Hitomi. He was about to say something, until he gave her a sad smile. "Y'know Hitomi?", he said, "You must have seen unspeakable things, to act like the way you are." And he looked at her one more time, and then he walked off. Hitomi looked after him, gobsmacked. 'How dare he!', thought Hitomi. 'How dare he not tell his sister off, when she's beat the crap out of my little brother!' She ran after him, with Julien trying to keep up at her side, and eventually caught up with Van. All the children, were starting to walk home, now. "What?", said Van, obviously irritated. "I", said Hitomi, "Refuse to move, until you make your brat of a sister, apologiese to my brother." Vans eyes threw daggers at her. "I thought i told you not to insult my family!" "And i thought i told you, to make your sister apologiese!" "Hitomi", said Van, "Just move!" "Not until my brother gets an apology!" "Look Hitomi", said Van, "You insulted my family, and so, i don't see why I should apologiese!" "I insulted your family, Van Fanel, because your little bitch, oh, sorry, I meant sister, got everyone to beat up my brother!" "Right!", said Van, "if you keep on insulting my family, then i'll insult yours." "What?!", said Hitomi. "OH!", said Van, "I've got one." "Got one what?!" "I bet your mother actually killed herself, just to get away from you! Then again, Daniels' probably the only normal one out of you lot! You really are a freak, Hitomi Kanzaki!" (A/N-BAD mistake, Van!) SMACK!!!!!! Van got hit, with such a blow, that he was almost knocked of his feet. Hitomi had slapped him across the face, (State the obvious!) and she then grabbed his collar, and violantly brought his face a few inches away from hers. "Don't you DARE speak about my mother like that again, Van! Do you get me? Well?! DO YOU?!" "Ummmm............", said Van, "Yeah". "Good!", said Hitomi. And she pushed his body backwards, and shoved past him, with Julien clinging on to her for support. "Um..................Van?", said Merle. "Don't talk to me!" shouted Van, clutching where Hitomi's powerful blow had struck him. He looked after Hitomi, and saw her basically dragging Julien to keep up with her moody walk. ****************************************** Dramatic, or what! BIG fight! Ooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Hope you liked this chapter, and as always, read and review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Special thanx to 'LoveWitch' and 'MaboroshiTsuki', for reviewing all of my chapters so far! Also, thanx to those others, who have reviewed me so far! Hopefully, the next chapter will be out soon! So long for now!! R&R! PLEASE! P.S. Sorry about the one big paragraph layout-my format on the computer won't allow me to post it any other way! SORRY!!!!!! 


	5. Changes

Hello!!!!! Thanx to all those who have reviewed!!!!!! In this chapter........ You'll have to read it, and find out for yourself!!!!!!! But theres going to be some change. *Hint hint!!* Right! On with the fic!!!!! Chapter 5. Changes. Hitomi was enjoying lounging aroung home all day, and stuffing her face nonstop, but Monday came too quickly for her liking. Daniel had told her about Van having a massive bruise on the side of his face, and Hitomi couldn't help but smile. Apparently, Van's skin was VERY weak, and bruises appeared on him very fast. Daniel took off earlier than Hitomi, so he wouldn't be seen with her, so hitomi and Julien walked to school together. When Hitomi was saying goodbye to Julien, Hitomi caught sight of pink hair in the cormer of her eye. When she walked into her own classroom, everyone went quiet. Madison started making her usual comments, but Hitomi was too busy looking at the seating plan. Madison saw what she was looking at. "Oh yeah!", she said, tossing her long brownish/blondish hair over her shoulder, "Because of your behavior, we all have to sit in a seating plan, so you can stop being so stupid!" "Like i care!", thought Hitomi. She was about to sit down in her usual chair, when the teacher walked in. "Ah! Miss Kanzaki!", she said, "I don't think you'll be sitting at the back today!!! You can sit at the front here!!" Hitomi scowled at her, and moved her things, and sat down. "Right!", said the teacher happily, "Now that thats sorted, shall we do the regist........" At that moment, Van burst into the classroom, and said: "Sorry i'm late Miss!!" "Thats okay Van", said Miss, "You can sit next to Hitomi. Maybe you could try to change her attitude a bit!!!!" "Yes Miss", said Van. Van sat down next to Hitomi, and the teacher began calling out the register. Hitomi was glad to see, that after a week, Van still had Hitomi's little mark of anger on his face. When the teacher had finished the register, she went out of the room, and let everyone talk while she was gone. Van turned to look at Hitomi, and when she looked back at him, he quickly turned his face to the front, blushing a bit. 'Wonder what's up with him', thought Hitomi. Hitomi started flicking her pen, and Van watched her. "Have a good week?", he asked, making a pathetic stab at conversation. "Whatever", said Hitomi. "How's Julien?", he asked. "He's terrified of going to school, thanks to Fanel-Bitch!" Van chose not to answer, as he already had a sore cheek. "Hitomi", said Van, in a soft voice, "I know you'll say no, but the firework display is on tomorrow night. Why don't you come with us?" Hitomi stared into his chocolate brown eyes. "Because i don't hang out with retards", she replied. Van couldn't help but smile. "Go on Hitomi!", he whined like a child, "PLEASE!!!!!!!!" Hitomi smiled a bit, as he clung on to her arm, with a cheesy grin on his face. "No!", she said. "Oh, go on!", he moaned. Hitomi was silent for a while, looking at Van's tanned face, until she finally said.......... **************************************************************************** **** Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo i'm evil!!!!!! Ending it there!!!!!! Is it a yes or no?! I'll have the next chapter out soon, and to my sister, Sophie, 'Get Well Soon!!!!' R&R PLEASE!!!!! 


	6. Disaster!

Hello!!!!! It's me!!!! Just a note, to say i'm givig up on this fic!!! Only joking!!!! I wouldn't be that cruel!!! Well, i am! For, i left the last chapter at a cliffhanger!!! Mwhahahahahahahaha!!!! Anyways.......... on with the fic!!!  
  
Chapter 6-Disaster  
  
Hitomi was still staring at Van. What should she say? She could stay at home, and look after Julien all evening. They could have fun together. They could rent out some movies, order a few pizza's and stuff. On the other hand, she could go out with Van and his friends, watch the fireworks together, and go on a few rides. She would be able to go out, not on her own, like she usually did, but with some other people. One of which, seemed to like her. "So?!" said Van, "Are you gonna come, or not?" Hitomi grinned, "I'll think about it", she said. Van smiled back at her. The bell rang, indicating first lesson. Hitomi picked up her things, and stood up. "The fireworks are on tonight. Meet us outside the main gate, at seven- thirty-if you feel like coming, of course!" Hitomi walked off to her next lesson, leaving a grinning Van behind. **************************************************************************** **** "So, your leaving me here, on my own?!", said Julien. "Yeah!", said Hitomi, standing infront of him with her hands on her hips. Julien frowned at her. "Are you felling okay?", he asked her. Hitomi laughed. "Of course i am, silly!" Julien smiled. "Who's the lucky guy, then?!" Hitomi's face dropped. "Huh?!" "You know!", said Julien, "Your in Lurve!" "No I am not!", shrieked Hitomi. "Yeah!", said Julien, "Course!" Hitomi folded her arms. "Humf!" At that second, Daniel walked in. "Hitomi!", he shouted angrily, "Why are you coming tonight?" Hitomi blinked at him. "Excuse me?!", she asked. "You!", he said, "Your not supposed to come! Your supposed to be the loser, and I'm supposed to be the popular guy!" "Well", started Hitomi, "Van invited me-" "Well!", said Daniel, "He can uninvite you!" "I can go if i want to!", shouted Hitomi, "For the first time in my life, I have a friend. I don't care if he's your friend aswell! I am not going to stop being friends with someone, because it might RUIN your reputation!!! Now if you'll excuse me, i'm going to get ready!" And with that, she stalked off to her room. **************************************************************************** **** Hitomi added some lip gloss to her outfit, and smiled at herself. She was wearing a leather jacket that came down to her knee's, some baggy black trousers, and a dark puprle strappy top. She walked out of her room, to find that Daniel had already gone. "Hey!", said Julien, tearing his eyes away from the T.V set, "You look nice. Dans already gone. Said he doesn't want to be seen with you. He already has to spend the evening with you infront of his friends." Hitomi raised her eye brows. "Oh", she said, "Then I'd better get going". "Yeah! Have a good time" "Thanks", said Hitomi, smiling. **************************************************************************** **** She walked over to the park, where the fireworks would be held, and she saw about 20 people from school, all of them standing in a huddle talking together. Hitomi suddenly felt very nervous. 'What have I gotten myself into?!' she thought. She couldn't help but smile, when she spotted Van. He was wearing long, baggy, beige combat trousers and a thick coat, which he left unzipped, over a hooded sweater. He spotted her and waved. Daniel, who was nearby, just scowled. Van ran up to her. "Hey!", he said, "You came!" "Yeah!", said Hitomi. "Well?!", said Van, "What are you waiting for?! Lets go and get your ticket!" "Ummm", started Hitomi, as he dragged her through the crowd, "I'm not sure I want to go anymore." "What?!", said Van, "Why?" "I didn't think they'd be so many people!" Van smiled at her. "Don't worry about it!", he said, "Just go with it, and you'll be fine!" "Kay!", said Hitomi. So, she and Van walked over to the crowd. To Hitomi's great disgust, Madison was there. She rushed over to Van, and wrapped her arms around him. Hitomi felt a pang of jealousy, but she didn't know why. "What is she doing here?!", she asked, staring at Hitomi. Van removed Madisons' arms from him. "I invited her", he said. Madison looked from Van, to Hitomi. "Oh!", she said, "Well, we'd better be going" Everyone began to que, to get their tickets. Van was laughing and talking with everybody, while Hitomi was keeping to herself. Madison spotted Hitomi staring at Van, and she walked over to her. "What're looking at Van for?", she sneered. Hitomi stared at her. "I'm not!", said Hitomi. "Yeah! Course!" Hitomi chose not to answer. "I know you have a thing for Van, and you'd better stay away, because you'll only end up trashing you relashionship. He see's you as a friend, nothing more." And she walked off. Hitomi thought for a minute. 'I don't have thing for Van, do I?' Van turned to look at her. "You okay Hitomi?" Hitomi smiled and nodded. Once they had all got their tickets, they all played a few of the fairground rides, which were there for fun, for before the fireworks started. Van seemed to be the most popular person there. Everyone was talking to him, and he looked as though he was having the time of his life. Van won one of the games, and won a large, cuddely toy. Van looked at it and laughed. Madison glanced at Hitomi, and edged towards Van. Van looked at Madison, and then Hitomi. He walked up to her. "Want this?", he asked, holding the toy. "You want me to have that?!", said Hitomi, surprised. Van smiled. "Well", he said, "Why not?" "Have you not seen what it looks like?" said Hitomi, as if Van was mad. "Go on!", said Van, smiling. "I'll have it!", said Madison, butting in. Hitomi raised her eyebrows at Van, and he sighed. "Go on then", he said, shoving the toy over to Madison. She gave Hitomi a winning smirk, and she gave Van a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Vanny!" Van blushed. "Whatever!", he said. A loud speaker turned on. 'The fireworks will be on in 5 minutes. Please make your way over to the centre of the park.' "Guess we'd better be going", said someone from they're group. "Yeah! Lets go". **************************************************************************** **** Music played in the background, as the first fireworks were set off. Hitomi had only seen fireworks before her parents had died. Flashback: "Mummy! Look at the pretty colours!" "Yes Hitomi", said a beautiful woman, to a young girl, with emerald eyes. "They are beautiful, aren't they?" "Yes", said the girl. And she hugged her mother. End of Flashback. Hitomi suddenly felt very sad. How she wished that her mother and father were still here. She longed for her mothers flowery scent, and them all to be a family again. A scream suddenly brought Hitomi out of her thoughts. A small firework had headed off course, and was heading right for her group. They all ran out of the way, but Hitomi was caught up in her own thoughts. Van noticed this, and yanked her out of the way, but not quickly enough. The firework scraped Hitomi's leg, going VERY deep. She screamed in agony and pain, and she fell to the floor. Everyone gathered around her. Blood was being dreched from her leg, at an alarming speed. Van was in complete shock. "Someone call an ambulance!", he screamed. "Already have!", someone shouted back. Van ripped off his sweater, and wrapped it around Hitomi's leg, who was in shock herself. Hitomi let out a whimper as he touched her wound. "You can cry", he said to her gently, "Let it out". "I'm not supposed to cry!" said Hitomi, "I'm supposed to be the one who looks after them. I will not cry". The ambulance sirens could be heard, and in no time, Hitomi was being carried into the vehichle. "Any of you want to keep her company?", asked the ambulance lady. Van looked around. Seeing as Daniel was no where in sight, he told her: "I will come". **************************************************************************** **** Very dramatic chapter! Thanks to all those who reviewed! Hope ya liked this chapter! As always, Read and Review!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!! 


	7. Hospital Sux!

Hello!!!!! Right, chapter 7-I think!!!! Ayways.................Oh yeah. My friend is a newcomer here!!! Her screen name is 'HannahBanana'. She's cool!!! Another friend of mine has also registered. Her screen name is 'chickenwings'! Thanks to all those who reviewed!!! A new character is in this chapter! Enjoy!!!------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------  
  
Chapter 7-Hospital Sux!!!  
  
Hitomi had fainted during the journey to the hospital. Van was sitting with his face in his hands, staring into space. Everything had been so perfect earlier. Then everything went so wrong, so fast. When they arrived at the hospital, the doctors shooed Van out of the way, and let them deal with Hitomi. While Van was waiting for news on Hitomi, a young man came up, and talked to him. "Hi!", he said. Van looked at him. He had longish blond hair, blue eyes, and he was quite tall. Van gave a weak smile. The young man continued. "What are you here for?" "One of my friends has been injured", Van stated. Allen raised his eyebrows. "Yeah", he said, "According to some of my research, Bonfire night is one of the busiest time of the year". "Really?", asked Van. "Yeah. I'm not a proper doctor. I'm training to be one. I'm Allen, by the way". "Hi Allen. I'm Van". "So, Van", asked Allen, "How was your friend injured?" "Well", started Van, "All of us met up to go to the park, because there was that big firework display on tonight. While we were watching the display, one of the fireworks went out of control. My friend went off day-dreaming, and the firework was heading right for her. I moved her, so the firework didn't go straight through her leg, but i wasn't completely fast enough". Van hung his head. "Don't worry about her", said Allen, "With our doctors and technology these days, almost everyone ends up alright". He gave Van a caring smile, and he walked off. "Excuse me? Are you the boy that came in with Hitomi Kanzaki?" Van stood up. "Oh! Yes, i am", he said, "Will she be okay?" "Yes", said the doctor, "She'll be fine. We want to keep her in for tonight, and then she will be able to go home tomorrow. Although, she will be in crutches for a while". "Oh. Okay", said Van. "You can go and see her, if you want to", said the doctor. "Thankyou", said Van.  
  
When Van walked into the room, he saw Hitomi lying in a bed, her leg all bandaged up. She looked up when she saw someone enter, but lay back down, when she saw it was Van. "Are you alright?", he asked Hitomi shrugged. "Does it hurt?" "I've just been whacked in the leg with a firework" said Hitomi, "I feel absolutly great!" Van stared at her. "What the HELL is wrong with you?!" Hitomi looked at him. "You must think i'm stupid", she yelled, "I should NEVER have trusted you! I was stupid to think, that ANYONE would want to hang around, with stupid, geeky Hitomi! I'm NEVER going to trust ANY of you lot again!!! Now, the door is there, so please leave!" Van sat there, shocked by her outburst. She had warmed up a bit, but now she was like her old self-a real ice-bitch. A familiar blond haired person came through the door. He looked up. "Oh, hi!", said Allen, "Van, wasn't it? And this must be your friend", he said, looking at Hitomi. "Not anymore!", scowled Hitomi. "Don't worry", said Allen, "This place can often get people depressed". Hitomi scowled some more. "I think i better go", said Van. "Yeah!", said Hitomi. "I'll see you soon!", he said to her. Hitomi rolled her eyes. "Bye Allen", he said. Allen nodded goodbye. "So", he said, "Miss Kanzaki. Van told me what happened to you. Must have been painful". "You have no idea", said Hitomi, quietly. "Ah, don't worry", said Allen, "Things like this happen all the time. You get pretty cool scars left over, aswell". "Really?", asked Hitomi. She'd always wanted a large scar, running down her leg. (Weird!!) "Yeah!", said Allen, smiling. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Allen", he said, holding out a hand. "Hitomi" They shook. "Well", said Allen, "I guess we're friends". "Guess so!", said Hitomi, grinning. "Allen!", came another voice. Allen turmed around. "Millerna!", he said. He was facing a beautiful blond haired woman, who was tall, and had purple eyes. He ran up to her, and hugged her. "It's so great to see you!" Allen turned to face Hitomi. "Millerna", he said, "This is my patient, Hitomi Kanzaki!" "Hi!", said Millerna, smiling. "Well", said Allen, "My shifts' over. Lets get going!" "Bye!", said Hitomi. "Yeah, bye!", said Allen and Millerna.  
  
Hitomi woke up the next morning, climbed on the bus (Very difficultly, because she has crutches), and arrived home. But when she got there, the flat was a complete mess.  
  
AN: Hoped you liked that chapter!!! Sorry if its too short, i still have homework to do!!!! Ahhhhhh!!! Anyway, PLEASE R&R! I'm desperate!!!!!! 


	8. Figures!

Hello!!! Thankyou so much to all those who reviewed!!! 46!!! I feel so loved!!!! Anyway, on with the fic!!! This is the 8th chapter-i think!!!!  
  
Chapter 8-Figures!  
  
Hitomi walked slowly across her apartment, her shoes slightly kicking stuff as she walked(or limped). What the hell had happened? For a minute, she thought she'd been robbed, but robbers didn't exactly rip radio's apart, did they? Everything was completely trashed. She went as fast as she could to Juliens room, and burst through the door. His room was also trashed, and he was nowhere in sight. She moved towards Daniels room, but, strangely enough, his room wasn't wrecked at all. Hitomi then walked (or limped) over to her room. When she opened the door, her room was the worst of all.All of her make-up had been completely wrecked. Her lipstick was all over her walls, and her posters had been ripped. Her bedcovers had been thrown across the room, and her matress was on the floor. She looked at her desk, where a picture of she and her family usually stood. She limped over to it, and she saw the frame, but no picture. Hitomi stared at the mess for about 5 minutes, until she heard the door slam. She walked out of her room, and she saw Daniel and Julien staring at the mess. "What happened here?", asked Julien. "Don't know", said Hitomi. Julien looked up, and saw his sister standing there, with a bandaged leg, and holding crutches. "Hitomi!", he shouted. He ran over to her, and hugged her. "Yeah, yeah, yeah!", said Hitomi. "Are you alright? Daniel told me what happened". Hitomi looked up, and saw Daniel looking at her. "Yeah", said Hitomi, "I'm, sure he did." Daniel just rolled his eyes at her. "Do you know what happened here?", he asked her. "No", said Hitomi, "Do you?" "No" "What about you, Juli?" "No idea". Hitomi sighed. "Well, i suppose we'd better get this place cleaned up", she said. "I can't", said Daniel. "Why not?", asked Hitomi. "Because Madison, Van and i are going to the movies". Hitomi raised her eyebrows. "Fine", she said. Daniel walked into his tidy room, and he got changed into some baggy jeans, and a hooded fleece. His green eyes looked into the mirror, as he spiked up his dark brown hair with some gel. There was a knock at the door, so Julien went to answer it. "Um....Hitomi?", he said, "Should i let them in?" "Who is it?", she asked. "Daniels friends", he replied. "Sure!" Hitomi turned around, and saw Madison with a nasty grin on her face, and Van looking nervous, with his hands in his pockets. "Hay", said Van, trying to make conversation, "How's your leg?" Hitomi shrugged. "Okay, i guess". "Good". There wasn't much talking after that. Hitomi was too busy staring at Madison's slutty outfit. She was wearing some shiny, black, leather trousers, and a very short strappy red top. Her long, brown hair fell to her thin waist. Hitomi scowled at this. Madison was too busy staring at the apartment, with a disgusted look on her face. "What happened here?", she asked, rudely. "I don't think thats any of your business", said Hitomi just as rudely. "Hmfp!" Hitomi's eyes turned onto Van. He was wearing a dark blue sweater, and some baggy brown combats. His eyes flickered up to Hitomi's, but flickered down again, as he noticed that she wasn't exactly in the talking mood. Hitomi looked around, and saw that Julien had slipped off somewhere. "Dan!", shouted Hitomi, "Hurry up!" "Yeah, i'm coming". Daniel came out of his room, and felt the tension in the room. "Okay....", he said, "I think we should get going. We don't want to miss the film". "Sure", said Van, "See ya Hitomi". "Yeah! Um, bye Hitomi", said Madison with an evil smirk. Hitomi gave her a sarcastic smile. "Okay, lets go!", said Daniel. And the three turned around to go. As Madison did though , a piece of paper fell out of her handbag. Hitomi wasn't going to tell her, of course. She hoped it was something important. She waited until the three had closed the apartment door, and Hitomi went to pick up the paper. When she did though, she recognised it. It was her family photo. How did Madison get this?, she thought. Then it hit her. Madison had done this. Thats why Daniel's room wasn't trashed-because they were friends. Hitomi then limped out of the apartment as fast as she could, hoping to catch up with Madison in time...... Okay, okay! Pretty lame, pretty short, i know! But what will Hitomi actually do to Madison? Even i don't know!!!! 'Love Witch and 'Shara Schezar', i have a plot, that will make the both of you happy, when it comes to Alle-i think!!!! It will either come up in the next chapter, or the one after that. As always, Read and Review-PLEASE!!!!!!!!! 


	9. Author Note!

IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE!!! PLEASE READ!!! Right! I am only gonna say this once (Or maybe a few other times). On Fanfiction.net, you can only post stories with html., and stuff like that. On my computer, i don't have Microsoft word, so therefor, i cannot save it with html. The word document i use, ends with sxw. NOT html. Because of this, i have to save it under html, which causes the computer to lose some of the information that i have saved, i.e-the way it is set out. I am sorry if this annyos anyone, but i cannot do anything about it. I have an idea, but i am not sure it will work. I am sorry for any inconvienience this may cause, so please do not tell me, as i already know! I DO NOT have it in my power, to change it! I set it out properly when i save it, but when i post in up on Fanfiction.net, it changes. I am sorry, and i will hopefully have the next chapter out soon. ~PrincessCool~ 


	10. Rows

Thankyou for all of those who said that it doesn't matter if my computer mucks things up. It really means a lot to me. Thankyou!!  
  
Chapter8-Rows. Hitomi looked around, not know which way to move. She turned a corner, and heard voices. She looked to the side of her, and saw the silohoutte of Van, Daniel and..........MADISON!!!! A look of pure hatred came onto her face, and she limped as fast as she could over to them. "Bitch!", she called out. Van, Daniel and Madison turned around. "What do you want, Hitomi?", asked Daniel. Hitomi ignored him, and made her way over to Madison. She spat in her face. Madison screamed, and Hitomi slapped her. Madison fell to the ground, still rubbing spit out from her eyes. Daniel pushed Hitomi. "What the hell was the point in that?!", he shouted. Hitomi looked at him. "Oh, didn't you know?", she asked. "Your little girlfriend here decides to completely trash our flat. Just to get to me. I'm surprised she didn't tell you. I thought that three-somes shared everything with eachother!" Daniel stared at Hitomi. "What the hell are you talking about? Madison never done anything like that! You just want to blame everyone for your mistakes!" Hitomi gawped at him. How could he be so stupid?! "Fine!", said Hitomi. "Fine! If you want to believe a little slut over your twin sister, fine by me! But don't think that your going out tonight!" Daniel snorted. "I can do what i want! Your not my mother!" "I know", said Hitomi, "But I'm the only one around here who doesn't act like an idiot, so I have to act like mum". "Quit trying to act so grown up!", screamed Daniel, "I know that you REALLY want to pretend to act so caring and motherly, but you can't!! Why couldn't you have died instead of Mum and Dad?" SLAP! Hurt and rage flashed through Hitomi's eyes as they began to water. Daniel's hand was clutching his cheek where she had hit him. "How can you say that?", asked Hitomi, in a wavery voice. She gave him, Madison and Van a disgusted look, and turned around to go home. **************************************************************************** ****  
  
That night, Hitomi done something that she hadn't done for 10 years. She cried. Daniel must hate her so much, to have said that. "Fine!", she said through sobs. "If he hates me, then I hate him! He can do everything for himself". She heard the door open then close. She opened the door of her bedroom, and peeked her head out. It was Daniel and Van. They both looked up at her when she opened her door. Van gave a small smile, but Daniel didn't do anything. "Van's sleeping over tonight", he said. Hitomi just turned around, and was about to close te door to her bedroom, when Daniel stopped her. "Hitomi?", he siad, "I'm really sorry for what i said. I didn't mean it". Hitomi turned to look at him. "Then why did you say it?", she asked in a croaky voice. Daniel began to panic. Van just stood there, with an anxious look on his face. "Because i'm stupid! I really didn't mean to say it! Please don't be mad at me!" Hitomi just shook her head. "If you didn't mean it, then you wouldn't have said it". And she closed her door, and went to sleep. **************************************************************************** ****  
  
When Hitomi got up the next day, she woke Julien up, and made their breakfast. Van and Daniel came out of Dans room (A/N:Don't get any dirty idea's!) and sat down to have breakfast. "Where's ours?", aske Daniel. "Well, said Hitomi, "Last night you made it quite clear that you don't want a motherly figure." Daniel scowled at her. "Hitomi", said Van, "I like your top! You look really nice today". Hitomi stared at him. Daniels jaw dropped. Julien just snorted into his cereal. Hitomi blushed, and mumbled a quiet 'Thanks'. As usual, Daniel and Van left the house before Hitomi and Julien. "Van?", asked Daniel, "Do you have a thing for my sister?" Van laughed. "Of course not!", he said, "Why'd you ask?" "No reason", said Daniel. They continued their walk to school in silence, while Van blushed slightly, not knowing if Daniel knew..............  
  
**************************************************************************** **** Okay, okay, okay! I know that Van is hardly in it, but he will be a lot more, as he's just flirted with Hitomi a bit. As always, READ AND REVIEW!!! PLEASE!!!! 


	11. Friends?

Oooooooooooookay! Right! Next chapter!! I think (?) that this is the 9th chapter. WARNING!!!! Van will flirt a little bit in this chapter, and- you'll have to read it to find out!! I might be a tad bit hyper, because i had a brian scan the other day, and-quite tragically-it left some side- effects!! So, for the mean time, please ignore everything i say! Okay! On with the next chapter!  
  
Chapter 9-Friends?  
  
When Hitomi arrived in her form-room, she sat down in her usual place at the back of the classroom. As she did sit down, she was prepared for the usual name-calling. Madison looked over to her. Hitomi saw her whisper something into her best- friend, Amy's ear. They both giggled. Pathetic. Hitomi looked around, and saw Van staring at her. He had a sort of dreamy look in his eyes, and was wearing a very wide grin. Hitomi blushed, and looked down. In the corner of her eye, she saw Van still staring at her. She thought back to the first time she ever saw him. Now it was her turn to grin.  
  
~Flashback~  
  
She chose to ignore them all, and stare out of the window. As she looked, she saw a family approaching the front of the school. The father, was tall and had black hair. The mother, had long black hair as well, and was wearing a very pretty outfit. There were then, two boys, and one girl. The tallest boy, was very tall, and had spikey, blue hair. The girl, was short, and had short pink hair. The last child, was a boy, with unruly black hair, and he was kind of tall. They stopped at the school doors, and the parents started to talk to Principle Short-Man. The boy with black hair, looked around, seeming interested in the school. He looked up at the top window, where Hitomi was. He stared at her, while she stared at him. His face then split into a wide grin. Hitomi, without hesitation, shoved her middle finger up at him, and turned to look at her teacher, without looking at his reaction.  
  
~End of Flashback~  
  
She threw her hair over her shoulder, and stared back at him. Van raised his eye-brows at her, and his grin grew wider. Her eyes twinkled back at him, and she began to bit one of her finger-nails. (A/N-What a flirt!) Then, without warning, they smile was suddenly ripped from her face, and she stuck her middle finger up at him. He smiled, as he shook his head. Hitomi couldn't help but grin, either. After class, Van was hanging around in the corridors with about 20 of his friends. Hitomi walked past them, clutching her books close to her. She hadn't bought her crutches to school, as she had decided not to use them-it made her look weak. Some of Van's crowd looked at her. One of his friends stuck their leg out, and tripped her up. She fell to the ground, and all of her books scattered all over the floor. Everyone in the corridor turned to look, and burst out laughing. Hitomi gathered all of her books, and got up. "Oh, sorry!" , said the person who had tripped her up. Hitomi glared daggers at him. "Jerk", she muttered. She began to walk away, when someone grabbed her shoulder. "What did you just call me?", he asked in a threateneing tone. "Well?" Hitomi rolled her eyes at him. Van was looking at her, and he then stepped forwards. "Leave her alone, Jack. She didn't mean it". Jack turned around to look at Van. "Leave her alone?", he said back to Van. "Why the hell should I? She's always been so miserable and depressing to look at. She deserves to be beaten up. It's what she wants, after all." Van argued back. "No, it's not. No one asks to be beaten up. She just prefers to be on her own, than be surronded by lots of people. My older brothers like that. Why don't you all just lay off her?" Hitomi raised her eyebrows. Van Fanel, the most popular boy in the school, was sticking up for her; Hitomi Kanzaki, the schools most biggest outcast. Even the science geeks looked cool compaired to her. All of Van's crowd was staring at him. He turned to Hitomi, and winked at her. Hitomi blushed, and walked away. When the last bell of the day went, Hitomi made her way over to her locker, and began to load all of her books into her bag. She felt someone lean against the locker behind hers. She slammed her locker shut, and Van was leaning against one of the lockers, with a grin on his face. "Hey", he said. "Um....hi", said Hitomi. "Thanks for sticking up for me earlier. You didn't really have to". Van shook his head. "Thats alright", said Van. "I think it's horrible the way everyone else treats you. I'm surprised that Daniel didn't help out too, actually". Hitomi let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, well. You try being one of the most popular guys in school, and have someone like me as a sister!" Van's smile saddened a bit. "Is that really what you think?" he asked. "It's not what I think-it's what I know". "Don't be so down on yourself", he told her. "Look. Why don't I walk you home?" Hitomi smiled at him. "Kay!", she said.  
  
Van and Hitomi walked silently through the quite road, Van enjoying the company a lot more than Hitomi. "So", he said. "So." Hitomi began strumming her fingers on one of her books she was holding in here hands. Van looked at her. She began humming aswell. "Did you just make that up?" "Huh?", said Hitomi. "Did you make that up?", asked Van. Hitomi blushed a little. "Yeah..." "It's pretty good, y'know, just out the top of your head". "Thanks", she said. "I'm hoping to become a song-writer when I leave for college". "Really?", he asked. He smiled. "I want to become a......never mind!" He turned his head away from her, his raven hair covering his eyes. Hitomi smiled playfully. "Go on!", she said. "Tell me! Please!" "Noooo!", he said, smiling. "I swear that I won't tell anyone!", she said, "Besides, who am I gonna tell?" Van looked at her carefully. "Alright", he said. "But you won't tell anyone?" "Promise", she said. "Okay. When I leave, I wanna become a......." "A what?" "A writer", said Van. "A writer?!", asked Hitomi. "What's so embarrasing about that?" Van looked at her as though it was the most simple thing in the world. "Well....", he said. "This is me. Van Fanel-the most popular boy in the schol. A writer isn't the most difficult and tough job in the world". "Who cares?", said Hitomi. "Look, you have to stop thinking about others. Who cares what people think of you? I don't. I stopped caring ages ago. Sure, you'll lose just about all of your friends, but at least you'll be able to do what you enjoy". Van stared at her. "Have you written any stories-like, proper ones?", asked Hitomi. "Ummm....yeah! I've written quite a few, actually". "Well, said Hitomi, blushing. "If it means anything to you, I'd love to read a few of your stories one time. If thats alright with you, of course?" Van smiled. "Of course it is!", he said to her. "Thanks!" They walked for a while longer, Hitomi now enjoying the company of Van. They were a few yards away from the apartment block where Hitomi lived, when Van asked her something. "Hitomi?", he said. "Uh huh?" "Well....you know that you said you wanted to read some of my stories? Well, would you like to come over to my house? Y'know, just to read them?" Hitomi looked up at him. He looked very red. Hitomi grinned. "Umm.....well....I'm not too sure", she said, uneasily. Van looked up. He looked pretty terrified. "Umm...well. Okay! Bye!". He turned around, and was about to go full speed ahead, when he heard giggles behind him. He turned around, and saw Hitomi laughing at him. "What?!", he asked, stupified. "You should have seen your face!", giggled Hitomi. "You looked so scared! I was joking around, you stupid idiot! I'd love to come round your house!" "Oh....", Van laughed nervously. "So...I guess we'll arrange it at school?" "Sure", said Hitomi. "Kay!" Van smiled at her, and ran in the opposite direction to his house. Hitomi was laughing as she climbed the stairs, and couldn't stop grinning- even as she slept. ***********************************************************************  
  
Like it? Okay, i added Van and Hitomi flirting with eachother a lot in this chapter, but i hope ya like it! PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!! 


	12. Happy Days

Hello! Soz that I haven't updated for like-AGES!!!! Hope you all had a good Christmas, and a VERY snazzy New Year. I was boozing my head off. My parent's were a bit narked. Oh well! Can't be helped now!!! Right. I did have a plot when I started this fic, but I can't remember it now, so I'm pretty much screwed! I'll just have to ask my sister for advice. (*Shudders*) Oh, well! On with the fic!  
  
  
  
Chapter 11 - Happy Days.  
  
Hitomi woke up the next morning, and thought about Van and hers conversation the previous night. Hitomi suddenly stopped making breakfast. She began to bite her finger- nails. Should I phone Van? She thought. Just to arrange me coming over to his house. Why was she thinking about Van so much? Hell, why was she even making breakfast? She wasn't hungry, and Daniel and Julian were out at the movies. She picked up the frying pan, and shoved its contents in the bin. She continued to bite her fingernail. She thought about it for a while. What would Daniel think of all this? That's it! Daniel!! He and Van, were like best buddies! Surely, Daniel would have his home phone number! She ran into Daniel's room, and searched for his address book. She had searched everywhere, until she came across a small leather book in his underwear draw. (Ewwwwwwwwwwwww!) She opened it, and looked under 'Fanel'. She finally found it, and ran to pick up the phone. She stopped in her tracks. Why the hell was she getting excited about a stupid telephone number? Especially Van's. She bit her lip. "Oh screw it!", she said outloud. "Who the hell cares if I have a crush on Van!" She put her hand over her mouth. Who cares if I have a crush on Van!? Where the hell did that come from?! I don't have a crush on Van! she thought hurriedly. He's my brother's best friend! Like hell would go out with HIM!! NO!!! Now I'm thinking about going out with him! DON'T THINK!!!! She pulled her inhaler out of her pocket, and puffed it twice. She looked over at the phone as if it was a dangerous creature, ready to pounce. She picked it up, and dialed Van's number. "Hello?", came a voice on the other end of the line. "Um.Hi", said Hitomi. "I was just wondering. Is Van there?" "Um.yeah. May I ask who's calling?" "It's Hitomi. I'm his friend from school-I think" "Oh. Hello, Hitomi.", said the voice. "I'm Folken, Van's older brother. Let me just get him for you." "Thanks". There was a moments silence, a loud shout for Van, and some loud footsteps coming towards the phone. "Hello?" Hitomi was silent for a while. "Um.Hi", she said. "Who is this?", asked Van. "Hitomi." "Oh, hey Hitomi!", said Van. He sounded pretty surprised. "Whatcha calling me for?" "Well.um. I was just phoning about what you said last night". "Which was...." "About me coming round yours, and the stories". "Oh yeah!", said Van. "Ummmm. I'll tell you what. Next week, I'm gonna have one of these lame dinner party things, and a sleepover afterwards. Why don't you come to that, and you can read some of my stories then?" Hitomi was shocked for a moment. A dinner party? And a sleepover afterwards? "Ummmmmm", she started. "Okay then", said Van. "Come over to my place at seven!" "What?!", asked Hitomi, alarmed. "I haven't even agreed to come!" "You have now!", said Van. "I'm not gonna let you say no. The last outing we had was a complete disaster, so I'm gonna prove to you that we can actually have fun." "Ummmmmm...okay", said Hitomi in a quiet voice. "Good. I'll see you on Monday at school. I'll tell you more about this thing then." "Kay. I'll see you on Monday then. Bye!" "See ya".  
  
On Sunday morning, Daniel seemed to be a lot more friendly than usual. As Hitomi was laying his breakfast down on the table, he said something which caught her by surprise. "Hitomi?", he asked. "Mmm?" "I'm sorry for being so mean to you all these years". Hitomi stared at him. "I'm not getting you a motorbike", she said. Daniel smiled and shook his head. "I don't want a motorbike". Hitomi raised her eyebrows. "Okay then..maybe I do. But this has nothing to do with that". "Hitomi gave a soft smile. "It's okay", she said. Daniel nervously smiled. "Kay. So.are we friends?" "Yup". They both turned to the television screen, and saw an advert for a movie coming out, called 'Dare Devil'./ Daniel smiled. "That's you, 'tomi. Remember before Mum and Dad died?" "Yeah...".  
  
Flashback 10 year old Daniel and Hitomi were playing in the back garden. Daniel was playing around, and Hitomi was making daisy chains. "Hitomi?", asked Daniel. "What?" "I dare you to eat that daisy chain." Hitomi looked at the daisy chain. She could never turn down a dare. Never. She didn't know why, but she just couldn't. Unfortunately, Daniel knew that. So she did. And she hurled. Not very pleasant. Ever since then, Danile dared her EVIL dares, and she stayed clear of Daisies!  
  
End of FB  
  
Hitomi smiled to herself.  
  
Okay, okay! REALLY lame chapter, but who cares?! In the next chapter, a new character is introduced! You can guess in your reviews (If I get any!) R&R!!!!!! ~PrincessCool~ 


	13. Dinner Parties

Oooooooooooooookay! This is my other chappie, and the long awaited mystery character will make his fanfic debut!  
  
On with the fic!  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 10-Dinner Parties.  
  
  
  
  
  
It was the day of Van's dinner party, and Hitomi was getting her overnight bag ready. It was only 3 in the afternoon, so she wasn't in her posh outfit yet.  
  
Van had called to tell her and Daniel that it was going to be one of those little posh things. It was only going to be the guests, and Van's older brother, Folken in the house.  
  
A few other people were coming, as well as the son of Van's parent's friends.  
  
Daniel was out at the moment, and Julien was going to be sleeping around a friend's house.  
  
They were going to be arriving at Van's house, around 7 O' Clock.  
  
Hitomi was a bit excited, and a bit nervous, as she had never been round anyone else's house before.  
  
She hadn't quite decided what she was going to wear yet, but nothing too fancy.  
  
When she had got her overnight bag, she started to make Daniel's. He was going to be absorbed in doing his hair later on, so he would defiantly forget.  
  
At that moment, she heard Daniel come through the door.  
  
She popped her head round the door, wondering what he was doing.  
  
"Hey, Dan!", she said.  
  
He looked up. "Oh!", he said, "Hi, Hitomi".  
  
"Where were you?", she asked.  
  
"Had to go out somewhere".  
  
Hitomi became suspicious.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"No where!", grinned Daniel.  
  
"Fine."  
  
************************************************************************  
  
When it was time for Hitomi and Daniel leave, Hitomi put the final touches to her outfit. She was wearing a black, v-neck dress, which came a few inches above her knees, with no sleeves. Her hair, which usually fell a little past her shoulders, was tied in an elegant knot at the back of her head, with a few wisps of hair framing her face.  
  
She was wearing her pendant, and some small diamond earrings. On her left wrist, she had her silver watch, and on her right, she was wearing two small silver charm bracelets.  
  
To finish it all off, she put on some glitter, some mascara and a coat of lip gloss.  
  
"There", she thought. "Finished".  
  
She heard a knock at her bedroom door.  
  
"Are you ready? We'd better get going", shouted Daniel.  
  
"Coming".  
  
She opened her door, and came face to face with Daniel. His jaw dropped.  
  
"Wow!", he said.  
  
Hitomi blushed. She looked at his outfit. He was wearing black trousers and a white shirt.  
  
"We'd better go then. You got your stuff?"  
  
"Yeah", said Hitomi. She grabbed her overnight bag, feeling slightly nervous. On the way out, she grabbed her long, black coat.  
  
They arrived at Van's house, and Daniel rang the doorbell. Hitomi looked around the neighborhood. It looked like a friendly place. Hitomi heard the screeching of tyres, and looked to the left. She saw a shiny black car come zooming round the corner, and screeched to a halt outside Van's house.  
  
The door opened, and a tall, blue haired guy was standing there.  
  
"Hey!", he said. "Come in. I'm Folken, by the way. Van's older brother. I'll be annoying you all for the evening."  
  
Hitomi laughed.  
  
Van appeared behind Folken, and elbowed him out of the way.  
  
"Hey!", he said. "Come in!"  
  
Daniel and Hitomi walked inside, and Van couldn't stop staring at her as she did. Hitomi blushed.  
  
He looked through the doorway.  
  
"Oh, hang on a minute. Mum! Dad! The Albatau's are here!"  
  
Hitomi looked up the stairs as she heard footsteps. She remembered what Van's parents looked like, because she saw them on Van's first day at school.  
  
Van's mum saw Hitomi and Daniel.  
  
"Hello!", she said, smiling. "Van? Care to introduce us?  
  
Van sighed. "Mum, these are my friends, Hitomi and Daniel Kanzaki.  
  
"Twins?", she asked.  
  
"Um. Yeah", said Hitomi.  
  
"Well, I'd better be going. Goau! Come on!"  
  
Van's dad came down the stairs, and nodded to Hitomi and Daniel.  
  
Hitomi moved to the side, so she was standing right next to Van.  
  
Mr. and Mrs. Fanel walked out of the door, and greeted the people who where now getting out of the car.  
  
"Why do I have to come?! ",said a voice.  
  
Hitomi felt Van tense up beside her.  
  
"Mum- ", he started, but was cut off.  
  
A silver-haired, red eyed 15 year old boy came out of the car.  
  
He looked up, saw Van, and grinned.  
  
Hitomi saw Van's fist clench.  
  
Next, the boys parents stepped out of the car.  
  
They all walked towards the Fanel's.  
  
"Goau! Varie!", said the mother.  
  
The boy was trailing behind them, obviously not that excited about coming.  
  
Hitomi looked at his outfit. He was wearing a red shirt, and black trousers. On his feet, he wore trainers with fire painted down the sides.  
  
"Van!", hissed his mother. "Come and greet our guests!"  
  
Van scowled at his mother. He walked towards the family.  
  
"Hello, Mr. And Mrs. Albatau."  
  
He paused, and nodded his head.  
  
"Dilandau".  
  
Dilandau returned the nod.  
  
"Loser".  
  
His father elbowed him.  
  
"Shut up!", he hissed.  
  
Dilandau glared.  
  
"Right then!", said Mrs. Fanel, putting on a smile. "Us adults better get going then!"  
  
"Look after them, Folken", said Mr. Fanel.  
  
The adults left the teenagers, and drove off.  
  
Dilandau turned his head towards Van.  
  
"Aren't you going to introduce us?!", he said, eyeing Daniel and Hitomi.  
  
Van muttered something under his breath.  
  
"Dilandau, this is Hitomi Kanzaki and Daniel Kanzaki."  
  
Dilandau walked forwards. He barged past them.  
  
"So.", he said. "Where's all the food?!"  
  
"In the oven", said Van.  
  
"What the hell are you making? It stinks!"  
  
"No need to be so rude!", said Hitomi.  
  
Van looked at her.  
  
Dilandau walked over to her. He raised an eyebrow, and laughed softly.  
  
"This is going to be an interesting night."  
  
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Was it okay?! Hehehehe! Dilandau's gonna have a pretty big part in this fic. If I kill him off, my sister would probably kill ME off. I feel so loved! As always, R&R!!!!  
  
~PrincessCool~ 


	14. There May Be Trouble Ahead!

Hello! Yup, that's right! I have FINALLY got Microsoft word, so I can space my work out! Woohoo! I'm probably gonna be updating a lot more, because I'm grounded for a WHOLE MONTH! EVIL MOTHER!!!! Oh, well! Thanx to you guys who reviewed! In this chapter, Dilandau's gonna be causing A LOT of trouble, so as some people say: 'There may be trouble ahead!'  
  
Chapter 13-There May Be Trouble Ahead!  
  
Hitomi sat on the edge of the sofa, looking around Van's house. It was quite a big place, but not mansion big.  
  
Van had gone upstairs to get changed, and Folken was in the kitchen, preparing the food. Daniel had gone to the toilet, and Dilandau was no- where to be seen. (A/N-Oh dear!)  
  
Hitomi smiled as she saw 13-year-old van smiling in a school photo. She looked at the other photo's pinned up on the walls. There were family pictures, family outing pictures and party pictures.  
  
Hitomi sighed. She would do anything to have her mum and dad back again.  
  
She heard footsteps behind her, and turned around. It was Folken.  
  
"Hi," he said.  
  
"Hello," said Hitomi, nervously.  
  
"Are you in my brother's class at school?" he asked her.  
  
Hitomi nodded her head.  
  
"Your Hitomi, right?"  
  
Hitomi nodded again.  
  
Folken smiled at her.  
  
"Van thinks a lot of you," he sat down beside her.  
  
Hitomi stared at him. Folken continued to talk.  
  
"Don't tell him I said this to you, but he never shuts up about you. At dinner times, he's always saying how funny you are to the teachers, and how he admires you for coping without parents".  
  
Folken turned his head to look at her.  
  
"Then again," he said, "Most people would admire you. Some 30-year-olds find it difficult to look after their kids, but you're only 16, and you have to look after you're two brothers. It can't be easy. Just try to warm up a little two him. I think he really likes you. Not friend like, but maybe something a bit...."  
  
At that moment, Van himself came down the stairs. Folken quickly ran back to the kitchen, a smirk on his face.  
  
Van stopped walking, and paused for a while. He was wearing a navy blue shirt, and smart black trousers. He stared at Hitomi, and noticed the slight blush on her cheeks.  
  
"What has he said to you?" he asked her, with a slight smirk on his face.  
  
"N-nothing!" Hitomi stuttered.  
  
Van came to the couch, and slouched down next to her.  
  
"So.um..Is anyone else coming?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah. There's gonna be you, Daniel, Matt and Madison."  
  
"What about that guy?" asked Hitomi.  
  
"Oh," said Van, "You mean Dilandau".  
  
Hitomi smiled a bit.  
  
"You don't sound too thrilled about him".  
  
"Yeah, well," said Van. "I didn't know he was coming tonight. I just thought that his parents were meting mine and they were going out I didn't realize he 'd be sticking around."  
  
"So," said Hitomi, "Why do you dislike him so much-"  
  
"Dislike who?" came a voice.  
  
Hitomi and Van turned around, and saw Dilandau standing there with a large book and a small book.  
  
He put the small book in his trouser pocket, and began to open the larger one. On the front cover in silver writing, it read 'Photo Album'.  
  
Hitomi glanced at Van, whose face showed unbelievable horror. A slight tinge of grey could be seen on his face.  
  
Dilandau grinned.  
  
"What's the matter, Van?" he asked, mockingly. "Why don't we all sit down, and have a small trip down memory lane?"  
  
Van was about to say something, or strangle Dilandau, when the phone rang. Van got up to answer it, and Dilandau took this opportunity to sit next to Hitomi, and show her pictures.  
  
"Hi," he said. "I'm Dilandau Albatau. Van's..oldest childhood 'friend'."  
  
Hitomi smiled.  
  
"I'm Hitomi Kanzaki. I'm his friend aswell."  
  
Dilandau smirked.  
  
"Friend?!" he asked sarcastically. "I thought you were his girlfriend. He certainly looks at you like you are!"  
  
Hitomi blushed, and nervously laughed.  
  
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," he said. "It's not you're fault VAN STALKS YOU!!!!"  
  
He said the last part loud enough for Van to hear.  
  
"It's not like that!" said Hitomi, blushing madly.  
  
"Whatever. Anyway, I just brought this over, because I thought that you'd want to see Van junior."  
  
Hitomi looked at the album with interest. In no time, she and Dilandau were laughing at pictures of miniature Van.  
  
They had been looking at the pictures a while, when Van came into the room. He looked at what Hitomi and Dilandau were staring at, and cursed under his breath. He swore that one day, he'd chop off Dilandau's smart-arse, little face.  
  
Dilandau looked up at Van, and smirked. He then looked down at Hitomi who was blushing madly, and then glanced down at the picture.  
  
"Hey, look!" he said. "This is me and little Van when we were 6-years-old in my paddling pool. And he's not wearing anything! Look at his little..."  
  
He glanced up at Van, cocked his head to the side, and said with a smirk on his face, "Never mind!"  
  
Van looked suicidal.  
  
He glanced at Hitomi, who became suddenly interested in her feet.  
  
"Dinner's ready!" shouted Folken from the kitchen.  
  
Hitomi quickly stood up, and looked up at Van. He was staring at Dilandau with a look of pure hatred.  
  
"Aren't the others coming?" she asked Van  
  
"No," he said. "Some of Folken's college friends are coming instead."  
  
They made their way into the dining room, where Daniel was sitting down, talking to Folken.  
  
"Smart!" shouted Dilandau. "Grubs up!"  
  
He barged past Van, and rushed into the dining room.  
  
Van turned to face Hitomi.  
  
"Van," she asked. "Are you mad at me?"  
  
"No, of course not," he said gently. "It's not you I'm mad at. It's just Dilandau."  
  
Hitomi looked at her feet, and a slight blush began to creep up onto her cheeks.  
  
"Well," she started. "If it's any consolation, I think that you were a cute kid."  
  
Van made a weird sort of noise that came from the back of his throat. A blush was beginning to appear on Van's cheeks.  
  
The doorbell then rang, and Folken rushed to the door.  
  
Van and Hitomi sat down at the table, and waited for Folken to come back, so they could then start their meal.  
  
Dilandau had already piled food onto his plate, and was stuffing his face at an alarming rate. Van wasn't doing anything to stop him, probably hoping that he would choke.  
  
Folken came back, accompanied by three other people. Hitomi recognized two of them to be Allen and Millerna, those two people she'd met at the hospital. She didn't think that they'd recognize her, though.  
  
They sat down at the table, and everyone raised their cutlery. As they began to eat, Folken introduced everyone.  
  
"This is Millerna Aston, Allen Schezar and Dryden Fassa. Guys, this is Dilandau Albatau, Hitomi and Daniel Kanzaki and my little brother, Van."  
  
Everyone said 'Hi' to each other, and they then went to the living room to play 'spin the bottle'.  
  
First, Millerna had to kiss Dryden. Allen got a bit peeved at that. Everyone was having a great time, until the both their horror, the bottle landed on Allen and Van.  
  
Van scrunched up his face.  
  
"I don't want to play any more!" he said hurriedly, while Hitomi was laughing next to him.  
  
"Come on!" she said to him. "Just a peck on the cheek!"  
  
"Alright!" said Van. "But only because you asked me!" He added quietly, so only Hitomi could hear-or so he thought.  
  
Dilandau had been listening in on their little chat.  
  
'So', he thought. 'Van DOES like her. I'll soon put a stop to that!'  
  
Van leant over, and scrunched up his face even more. He quickly put his lips on Allen's cheek, and pulled away as fast as he could.  
  
Everyone was laughing, and both Van and Allen were a deep crimson.  
  
"Okay!" said Folken, gasping for air. "Last one now, so we've got to make it a good one! The two people who it lands on, have got to use tongues, no matter what the gender!"  
  
Everyone held their breath, as Folken dramatically spun the bottle.  
  
The bottle began to slow, and eventually came to a stop, one end at Hitomi, and the other pointing at......?  
  
  
  
  
  
I am so evil! Mwhahahahahahahahahahaha! Who does it land on?! I know, BUT YOU DON'T!!!!!  
  
As always, READ AND REVIEW-PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	15. Iodine HurtsA LOT!

Ooooooooooooookay!! Right-I is soooooooooooo sorry for leaving it there!!! But, because I lurve you guys so much, I'm gonna be nice and give you a big long chapter! Aren't I adorable? This gives me a nice excuse for LOTS of reviews. Well, you guys BETTER give me reviews, and if you don't, you might just wake up in the morning with either disfigured faces or no faces! ^_^ Ummmmmmmm....I'm really sorry for my choice!! Most of you will kill me, and never review me again!! But know this-I LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT. Right..moooooving on......  
  
Chapter 14 - Iodine Hurts-A LOT!!!  
  
The bottle began to slow, and eventually came to a stop, one end at Hitomi, and the other pointing at......  
  
Daniel smirked, then burst out laughing. Folken silently laughed, his eyes moving from one of the people to the other. Dryden wasn't being too un- noticeable. He was laughing at full blow, making Hitomi blush even more. Millerna was giggling and Allen was doing the same as Folken.  
  
Hitomi bit her lip, and turned her head towards Van. He was staring at her. Hitomi looked down.  
  
'Great!' she thought.  
  
Van thought hard.  
  
'What am I going to do? He'll mock me for ages.'  
  
In the corner of his eyes, Van saw Dilandau get up and rub his hands together.  
  
"Well!" he said, "Lets get this show on the road!"  
  
Hitomi wished she could die.  
  
All Van could do was sit there and stare at the floor.  
  
"Come on!" said Dilandau, smiling. "Get up! We're all waiting!"  
  
Hitomi scrunched up her face and rose from the floor.  
  
She looked at the others (Daniels laughing annoying face caught her eyes) and then her face lay on Van's for the longest.  
  
She then looked up again to Dilandau's smirking face.  
  
She walked towards him, ready to meet her doom.  
  
She closed her eyes, and lent him to kiss him. (A/N. Ha!! I bet you all thought that she was gonna kiss Van!!! Mwhahaha!)  
  
When she kissed him, his tongue immediately went into her mouth. She could hear the others in the background, laughing and jeering.  
  
'Well, this isn't too bad,' thought Hitomi. 'At least he's not trying to eat me.'  
  
When she needed air, she tried to pull away, but Dilandau's hand quickly went up to the back of her head. She didn't want to embarrass Dilandau in front of everyone, so she kept on kissing him.  
  
Dilandau, mean while, was having the time of his life. Not only was he kissing a girl who was pretty fit, but he was also kissing the girl that Van fancied.  
  
He opened his eyes, and looked at Van.  
  
He was staring at them both, while everyone else was having fun. His usually happy and cheerful eyes were now filled with sadness. But when Van's eyes met Dilandau's, they suddenly filled with something else-anger.  
  
Pure hatred.  
  
Dilandau saw this, closed his eyes, and deepened the kiss even more.  
  
Hitomi then stopped kissing him, and drew away. Everyone was laughing and shouting, which made her blush lots.  
  
Everyone was talking to Dilandau, not really noticing her.  
  
She looked over at Van, who was still sitting at his original place. His head was bent low, so no one could see his face.  
  
Hitomi walked over to him.  
  
"Van?" she said.  
  
No answer.  
  
"Van?" she said again.  
  
Van rose from the ground, turned his head away from Hitomi, and went into the kitchen.  
  
Hitomi stared after him, not really knowing what to do. Biting her lip, Hitomi went after him, and closed the door behind her.  
  
Van was cutting up a packet of strawberries, his back to her.  
  
"Van?" Hitomi asked again.  
  
Van sniffed.  
  
Hitomi couldn't take it any more.  
  
"What did I do Van, huh?" she asked in question. "Why are you being like this towards me? What did I do?"  
  
Still no reply.  
  
Hitomi felt a bit of anger go through her. She marched up, and stood next to Van.  
  
"Van? Tell me what I done."  
  
He was cutting the strawberries with so much force; anyone would think he was trying to cut metal.  
  
He sniffed again.  
  
"Right," said Hitomi, grabbing his arm and turning him to face her. "You are going to tell me what I have done, or you will be very sorry."  
  
Van just stared at her. Hitomi noticed that his eyes were a bit more watery than usual.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked.  
  
He stared at he for a while, and then turned back to cutting his strawberries. He gave a violent sniff, and ended up slicing his hand with the knife. Blood immediately flew freely from the cut.  
  
"Hey," said Hitomi, trying to be nice. "You cut yourself. Here, let me clean and bandage it for you."  
  
She reached out to touch is hand, but he just turned completely away from her, and leant on the area around the sink.  
  
'Right,' thought Hitomi, 'That does it.'  
  
"Just listen Van!" she shouted, a bit of her bitchy attitude coming back. "I don't know what I'm supposed to have done wrong, but you're really starting to piss me off!"  
  
Van snorted.  
  
"As if you don't already know!" he said bitterly.  
  
"Well, no Van, I don't know!" shouted Hitomi. "So feel free to tell me any time soon!"  
  
Van wiped his nose with his sleeve, and ran the tap to clean up his cut.  
  
Hitomi heard shouts of laughter from the other room, indicating that she and Van had not been missed.  
  
"Look," she said, softening up a bit. "Please let me just clean up your cut."  
  
Vans eyes shifted over to her, even though she could not see that, as his hair was covering his eyes.  
  
"Fine," he muttered, and moved to get the first aid kit from the cupboard.  
  
He shoved it into Hitomi's hands, and scowled a bit.  
  
Hitomi coughed slightly, and ordered Van to sit on the work-surface.  
  
"For Gods sake!" he said aggressively. "I don't have concussion or anything!"  
  
Hitomi just rolled her eyes and violently pulled his hand towards her so she could tend to it.  
  
While Hitomi was tending to Van's cut, however, all Van could do was complain or insult her, which Hitomi found very annoying.  
  
"If you don't want to let me do this, then I could just leave it and let it get infected!"  
  
"I'd rather that," said Van under his breath, although Hitomi heard it.  
  
There were a lot more arguments while Hitomi was cleaning Van's cut, and she paid him back, by 'accidentally' spilling iodine on his cut.  
  
Van screamed in pain, and began hopping and running away from Hitomi around the kitchen.  
  
The others didn't hear, as they were playing loud music.  
  
Van was on one side of the small work-surface/table in the middle of the kitchen, while Hitomi was on the other.  
  
"Van!" said Hitomi, holding bandages and iodine. "Just let me put some on! Stop being such a baby!"  
  
Van stared at her.  
  
"I'm not being a baby!" he said, clutching his poor hand with his other. "It's not my fault you're a psycho and a klutz when it comes to first-aid!"  
  
"I am not a psycho!"  
  
Hitomi ran around the left side of the counter, and Van ran away from her. They were running around the counter, both shouting stuff at each other.  
  
"Van Fanel!! Get here right now, or I'll shove this bottle in places you don't want to imagine!!"  
  
"Oh yeah?! Well I'm gonna tell our Science teacher you love him, and that you pose nude for a living!!"  
  
It carried on like this for some time, until they heard the front door slam.  
  
Van stopped abruptly, and listened carefully. Muffled voices could be heard in the next room.  
  
Hitomi took this opportunity to sneak up on Van, and snatch his hand. She slammed it onto the counter, and poured the iodine all over the cut, for the second time.  
  
Van screamed out, and this time, everyone heard.  
  
The kitchen door burst open, and Mrs. Fanel stood there, looking alarmed.  
  
"What's going on in here?!" she asked.  
  
Van was the first to speak.  
  
"My..hand!" he whimpered.  
  
Mrs. Fanel stared at her son.  
  
"Well, Mrs. Fanel," started Hitomi. "Van cut his hand while cutting fruit. I was merely trying to put iodine in his cut to clean it out. It might have stung a 'little' bit, but it's for his own good, really."  
  
Van quickly turned to her.  
  
"A little?!" he asked disbelievingly. "A little? Are you crazy?!"  
  
"Van!" said Mrs. Fanel. "Don't be rude. Hitomi was trying to help you!"  
  
"Thank you, Mrs. Fanel," said Hitomi, smugly.  
  
"But what about my hand?!" said Van, waving his hand in his mothers face. " She almost KILLED me!"  
  
"Van!" said his mother. "That's enough! You're overreacting! Hitomi done the right thing! She obviously knows her medicine! You should be thanking her!"  
  
Hitomi smiled smugly at Van. She was really starting to like this woman. She raised her eyebrows at Van. He just glared at her.  
  
"Now Van," said Mrs. Fanel. "How have you and Dilandau been getting on? I remember the last time you met, it didn't end very well."  
  
While Van and his mother were discussing things, Hitomi looked over into the corner, and noticed Dilandau being told off by his parents in the corner.  
  
"You are being unbelievably rude!" His mother was saying.  
  
Dilandau just rolled his eyes at them, and said something under his breath.  
  
"Don't give your mother that attitude!" said his father.  
  
"Oh give me a break!" he said. "All you two ever do is talk crap, so what the hell is the point in listening to you?"  
  
His mother looked like she was about to faint, whereas his dad looked as though his head was about to explode.  
  
"Give us that cheek again, boy, and they'll be no supper for a week!"  
  
Dilandau pretended to be scared, and grinned as his parents walked off to talk to the Fanel's.  
  
Dilandau saw Hitomi in the kitchen doorway, and walked over to her.  
  
"Bet your parents don't rag on at you like that," he said.  
  
"Well," said Hitomi. "They wouldn't do, seeing as they're dead."  
  
"Oh, shit! Sorry!" said Dilandau.  
  
"That's okay," said Hitomi. "You didn't know."  
  
While she and Dilandau were talking, Van looked over at them while he was talking to his parents.  
  
"Yeah," Van replied, to something his mother was telling him about. "Sure."  
  
Varie looked at her son, and leant forwards to see what he was looking at.  
  
She saw Hitomi and Dilandau talking, and Van leaning back to watch them as they walked away.  
  
A slight smile came to her lips, as she realized that this girl had caught her son's eye.  
  
She decided that she would get her husband to talk to him about it later.  
  
"So, I'll see you later Van," she said.  
  
"Whatever," he replied.  
  
She decided to go, as she realized her son was still staring at this girl, and hadn't listened to a word she had been saying.  
  
"Hey mum!" shouted Folken from the next room. "Done with your little check- up?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
Mr. Fanel and the Albatau's were heading out the door, when Varie decided to talk to Folken about something.  
  
"Folken?" she said, walking up to her son and making sure that no one else could hear their conversation.  
  
"Yes?" he said.  
  
"I've noticed that Van has taken a certain liking to Hitomi. Make sure that she and Dilandau don't get too friendly. Van seems to like her a lot."  
  
"Too late, mum" he said.  
  
"Why?" she asked.  
  
"Well, we were all playing 'spin the bottle' earlier," Folken started, "And lets just say that Dilandau and Hitomi ended up playing 'tonsil hockey'!"  
  
"Oh," said Varie, looking hurt for her son. "So that's what you all do when parents aren't around."  
  
"Um.well," stuttered Folken. "That's not what I mean."  
  
"Ah, I see!" said Varie. "Well, me, you father and the Albatau's are heading out again. Keep an eye on things here."  
  
She pecked Folken on the cheek and walked through the door.  
  
On her way out, she gave Van a small smile, and caught up with her husband.  
  
"I want you to talk to Van about something later."  
  
"Oh!" said Goau. "And what about?"  
  
"Well, " said Varie with a smile. "I think he has a crush on Hitomi."  
  
"Oh," Goau groaned. "That talk."  
  
Varie laughed as they all got into the car and drove off.  
  
Back in the house, everyone had divided into groups.  
  
Folken was talking with Millerna, Dryden and Allen. Dilandau was talking with Hitomi. And Daniel was talking with Van, who kept on sneaking glances at Hitomi.  
  
Folken noticed this, and smiled to himself, feeling sorry for his little brother.  
  
"So," said Dilandau. "How much do you hate teachers?"  
  
"A lot!" said Hitomi. "I've been suspended 4 times by them."  
  
"No kidding!" said Dilandau with a smile. "I've been suspended 4 times too- except mines 5!"  
  
"Cool!" said Hitomi. "Yeah, my head teacher, Mr. Umpa-Lumpa I like to call him. He has it in for me."  
  
"Well," said Dilandau. "We'll have to look out for him."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Hitomi.  
  
"Oh, didn't you know?" asked Dilandau. "I'm gonna be transferred to your school! Now we can torment teachers together!"  
  
Funnily enough, everyone stopped talking at that moment, and heard what Dilandau had said, and all thought the same thing: Oh, Jesus!!!  
  
Folken sneaked a glance at Van, who's face seemed unreadable.  
  
Folken looked at the time.  
  
"Right!" he said. "It's pretty late. We should all go to sleep."  
  
Everyone went into the porch to get their things, when Folken stopped Van.  
  
"Hey, you okay?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah," said van. "Why wouldn't I be?"  
  
Folken smiled at him and ruffled his hair.  
  
He bent down and whispered in his ear.  
  
"She'll choose you. Don't worry. She'll soon see that."  
  
Van turned to stare at him, a puzzled look on his face.  
  
"Mum noticed it too. You never know," said Folken. "Dad might even give you the girl-talk. I can still remember mine-God, what a disaster!"  
  
Folken laughed, while Van prayed that his dad wouldn't give him a talk. He would probably die of shame.  
  
Everyone came in with their things. Folken said goodnight to Van, and he, Millerna, Allen and Dryden went into the dining room. Van, Hitomi, Dilandau and Daniel stayed in the living room.  
  
Everyone set out their things, and got into their sleeping bags.  
  
It ended up in the order of Daniel, Van, Hitomi, and Dilandau.  
  
Dilandau was grinning from ear to ear.  
  
When they all decided that they weren't tired, they all got out of their bags. Dilandau challenged anyone who dared to a fight, and Daniel stupidly accepted.  
  
Van and Hitomi were left watching.  
  
"Um, Van?" she asked.  
  
Van turned to look at her  
  
"Well..um.you said that I could..um.read a few of your stories if I came. And I was..um.wondering if.."  
  
She looked up at Van.  
  
His face broke into a grin.  
  
"Sure!" he said. "Come on, we'll go and get them."  
  
They both climbed the stairs to Van's room, Hitomi looking around at all of the pictures.  
  
Van stopped at a door with stickers and weird things all over it.  
  
He opened it, and Hitomi saw a room with dark blue walls, lots of books on the bookshelves, a computer, and LOTS of posters covering the walls.  
  
Hitomi grinned when she saw clothes all over the floor. Boxers were lying in unusual places, e.g. on top of his computer, on top of his TV, a few fell on them while walking through the door meaning they were on top of the door.  
  
Van walking in, and began searching in his desk and on the bookshelves.  
  
He looked up at her.  
  
"You can come in, y'know!"  
  
"Oh!"  
  
Hitomi blushed and walked into his room.  
  
She had never been inside a boy's room before-especially a boy like Van's. She loved the smell of it, the look of it.  
  
She wandered around, looking at the walls.  
  
On his desk, she saw a notepad with a small tear in it, showing a bit of the writing. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Van was busy looking for the stories with his back to her.  
  
She looked back at the pad, and saw her name written in Van's messy handwriting. Her heart skipped a beat, and she opened the front cover.  
  
She read through the writing on it.  
  
21st February 2003.  
  
Hitomi phoned me up earlier today. I couldn't believe it. I don't think I'd ever been so nervous about going on the phone.  
  
She sounded so nervous, asking if she could read a few of my stories. MY stories. My mum said she'd noticed me smiling a lot more lately. Daniel's noticed I sort of smile a lot when Hitomi's name is mentioned.  
  
I hope they don't suspect anything. I want everyone to know. But most of all, I want her to know. And I want her to feel how I feel. More than anything.  
  
Hitomi was shocked.  
  
She looked over her shoulder at Van who was still looking for the stories. He looked up at her and smiled. Hitomi smiled back.  
  
Does he.......  
Snazzy, ne? A long chapter (for me, any way) for you guys. I spent extra time with my sister. Do any of you know how much torture I went through?! You SHOULD be soooooooooooo grateful. Anyway, read and review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Oh, and LOVEWITCH, now it's your turn to update! Mwhahahahahahahaha!!!! And get your sister to update She's all That, Esca-Style! That fic rocks!!!!  
  
~PrincessCool~ 


	16. The Weirdness of the Fanel's!

Howdi!! Lol!! Aren't I hilarious?! -.-'' Anyway, here's my next chapter, and I hope that you enjoyed the last one!!  
Chapter 15- The Weirdness of the Fanel's!  
  
Hitomi was staring at Van, not really knowing what to do. But, what if he did..  
  
No, of course he didn't.  
  
Hitomi thought hard.  
  
'Well, if he did, it's not really that bad. After all, I did decide that I fancied Van before phoning him.'  
  
Hitomi blushed at the thought of Van going all gooey on her.  
  
"Found them!"  
  
A voice startled Hitomi out of her thoughts, and she saw Van kneeling down on the floor with a large amount of paper in his hands.  
  
Hitomi smiled at him, and sat down on the floor next to him.  
  
"Yeah, um, just flip through them," said Van, suddenly quite embarrassed that a girl was reading some of his work in his bedroom.  
  
"K," said Hitomi, flipping through the work looking interested.  
  
Van looked over to where she had been standing, and saw his journal open on his desk.  
  
He was sure that his heart had stopped beating.  
  
'Shit!' he cursed in his head.  
  
He walked over to it, and read through the page, hoping nothing embarrassing was on it. But surprise, surprise there was.  
  
Van bit his lip as he looked over his shoulder at Hitomi.  
  
'Crap, crap, crap!'  
  
He quickly chucked the book over his shoulder, and it whacked Hitomi on the head.  
  
"Oh my God I'm sorry!!" shouted Van, rushing over to her.  
  
Hitomi clutched her head, and laughed at him.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked. "Do you have concussion or anything? Are you bleeding?!"  
  
Hitomi stared at him. Since when did Van Fanel whack girls over the head with books, and ask them if there's blood flying everywhere?!  
  
"No," laughed Hitomi. "No, I'm fine!"  
  
"Are you sure?" asked Van urgently. "Should I call an ambulance or something?!"  
  
"Van?" said Hitomi. "You whacked me on the head with a small book. I some how doubt that I have to go to casualty because of it."  
  
"Um, yeah!" said Van. "Right, sorry."  
  
Hitomi just laughed and shook her head at him.  
  
"Sorta lost control of the book!" said Van, picking up the journal and shook it in his hand.  
  
While slightly laughing, hoping that Hitomi would laugh a bit with him, he chucked the journal over his shoulder again, praying that she hadn't noticed.  
  
But the book just hit the wall and rebounded off it, hitting Hitomi in the head again.  
  
"Crap! I am SO sorry!" shouted Van again, clutching his own head with his hands.  
  
Hitomi clutched her head again and laughed at him.  
  
"It's alright!" she said.  
  
"Stupid book!" growled Van, and he kicked it.  
  
The journal flew across the room, this time whacking Hitomi in the face.  
  
Her head flew backwards, and she fell backwards onto the floor.  
  
"Jesus Christ!" yelled Van.  
  
He picked up the journal, and threw it onto his bed.  
  
He ran over to Hitomi and sat down next to her.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked.  
  
Hitomi sat up.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine, I think!"  
  
Her hand was covering the bottom half of her face, and Van drew her hand away. Her nose was bleeding, quite rapidly.  
  
"Crap." Said Van. "Um, go in the bathroom, I'll be there in a minute."  
  
"Kay," she said, laughing a little.  
  
She walked out of the room, and came back at least 5 seconds later.  
  
"Um, Van?" she asked.  
  
Van lifted his head up.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Which room's the bathroom?"  
  
Van laughed a little, and got up to help Hitomi.  
  
Hitomi sat down on a small chair next to the sink, while Van wet some tissue paper.  
  
"Sorry about hitting you in the face and head and stuff," said van.  
  
"That's okay," said Hitomi. "It's nothing compared to what my brothers do to me at home. Julien sits on my head and stuff when he doesn't get his own way."  
  
"Ouch!" said Van. "Yeah, Merle can scratch and shout pretty good. My mum lets her get away with anything, because she's the only girl. I tend to side with Folken when we have fights, but he ends up leaving me because he feels sorry for Merle. Then when I'm left on my own and my parents find us all arguing, they take Merle's side and I get sent to my room."  
  
Hitomi laughed a little.  
  
Van turned the tap off, and began dabbing Hitomi's disfigured nose with the tissue. (A/N-When I say disfigured, I mean manked up because of the bleeding and stuff)  
  
Hitomi blushed a little at Van's face being so close to hers. Concentration was written all over his face, and he was holding the top of her head with his other hand.  
  
"Let's see then," he mumbled.  
  
He put the tissue in a bin, and put his hands on either side of her head. Hitomi blushed A LOT.  
  
"Perfect!" he said.  
  
Hitomi didn't blush, because she was already 'blow up' standard on the blush-o-meter.  
  
Van's face suddenly turned serious, and he leant towards Hitomi.  
  
She thought that she REALLY WAS going to blow up.  
  
'Oh God!' she thought. 'God, he's going to kiss me.'  
  
'Well don't stop him!' said a voice in the back of her head. 'After all, you said yourself that you fancied him.'  
  
'Yes, but I said that I was being stupid after that, didn't I?'  
  
'Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.'  
  
'And what's that supposed to mean?'  
  
'Never mind! Get back to the present you fool! Look, he's like 1 inch away from you!'  
  
'Oh God!'  
  
Hitomi's brain was right. Van was going to kiss her, and she wanted to kiss him back. But she couldn't.  
  
'Kiss him!'  
  
Van's eyes fluttered shut.  
  
'Go on, kiss him! You know you want to!'  
  
One of Van's hands went to the side of the chair to support him.  
  
'Smooch, smooch, smooch! Look at him! Look at his gorgeous face! Kissssssss himmmmmmm!"  
  
'FINE THEN, I WILL!'  
  
Hitomi closed her eyes as well, and their lips were millimeters apart when-  
  
"Hey, happy campers!"  
  
Dilandau and Daniel burst through the door, and Van and Hitomi quickly pushed each other apart.  
  
Dilandau bounced around the bathroom, while Van stood up quickly and slightly coughed.  
  
Hitomi sat on the chair and fiddled with her fingers. Daniel just stood there, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Hey, we're not interrupting anything, are we?"  
  
Hitomi went a violent shade of red just when she had lost her previous volcanic lava color. Van just nervously laughed.  
  
"N-no!" he stuttered while giving a cheesy fake smile. "Of course not!"  
  
Daniel raised his eyebrows.  
  
"Hm....yeah, whatever!"  
  
Dilandau was nearly forgotten, while he was being stupid in the background.  
  
He was in the bath tub at the moment (A/N-With his clothes ON!! Sorry girls!) And singing into the showerhead.  
  
"Burn baby, Burn! Burn, baby burn!" he was singing, while everyone in the room raised their eyebrows. "You can be by Bunsen burner, you can be my naked flame. Woooooooooooooooooooooooo!!"  
  
Daniel slightly nodded his head, and walked over to Dilandau.  
  
They all thought he was getting into this WAY too much.  
  
Daniel started to try and pull the showerhead away from Dilandau, but he clutched onto it, and started to sing a different tune.  
  
"Oops I did it again! I played with your heart got lost in the game, baby, baby! Come on, sing with me girls! Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!"  
  
Everyone sweat dropped.  
  
'And to think,' thought Hitomi. 'I kissed this guy!'  
  
"Come on Dilandau!" said Daniel, helping Dilandau out of the bathtub. "I think you've had to much to drink.  
  
"Um, lets go downstairs," suggested Van.  
  
The others agreed, and Van went into his room before going down the stairs. He came out with all of his stories.  
  
"There you go, Hitomi," said Van, smiling at her.  
  
"Thanks," she mumbled.  
  
Van looked at her worried, but thought nothing of it. When they got downstairs, they all got their pajamas out of their bags, and queued up outside the bathroom.  
  
Seeing as Hitomi was the only girl, they all decided that she should go in first. She was in there for 2 minutes at the most, when she heard banging on the door, and complaints from the boys, groaning at her to get out.  
  
She came out in her sweet little cloud pajamas, looking much more innocent than she actually was.  
  
Dilandau gave no surprise when he came out in his silk black pajamas with flames creeping up them. He also had a matching dressing gown and slippers.  
  
Daniel went in next, and came out with plain dark blue pajamas. Funnily enough, Hitomi had never actually seen her brother in his night wear.  
  
Van came out wearing black pajamas. Hitomi couldn't believe that she was looking at one of the most popular boys in school wearing pajamas.  
  
They all dumped their clothing in the living room, and started to play very strange games.  
  
They started off with a game when you put a sleeping bag upside down on someone, so their head was where their feet should be. The person then runs around the room, looking for the other people, who mock and tease them.  
  
Dilandau was in the sleeping bag first.  
  
They were all running around, when Dilandau got stressed out when he couldn't find anyone. He just ran around like an idiot, until he just ran straight into a wall, and knocked himself out.  
  
Van couldn't have been happier when Folken came in, and asked him to fetch a glass of cold water and pour it on Dilandau's face or head.  
  
Shame was, that Dilandau woke up practically seconds before Van was going to soak him. Dilandau spluttered and chased Van around the house, while Folken was trying to calm everyone down, but soon gave up as he found it pretty entertaining.  
  
Dryden, being the little money-grabber that he was, started taking bets. Millerna bet that Van would win, Allen bet that Dilandau would win, and Daniel bet that Dilandau would win too.  
  
Hitomi decided not too bet, as the person who she didn't bet on would get stressed out.  
  
"Aren't you betting?" asked Folken, smiling at her.  
  
"No," she said, smiling back.  
  
"I would if I were you."  
  
"Why?" asked Hitomi.  
  
"Well," said Folken. "See Millerna over there? Well, she's rich. She's putting in 65 dollars."  
  
Hitomi raised her eyebrows, happy that she could get information from Folken.  
  
She decided that she would also bet, and put in 25 dollars for Van.  
  
Folken joined in, putting in 35 dollars for Dilandau.  
  
Hitomi looked at him, surprised.  
  
"Aren't you gonna bet for Van? He is your little brother."  
  
"Nah," said Folken, looking at the fight before their eyes. "I've fought Van lots of times. He has weak wrists."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Dryden was screaming things at Van, as though he was in the army or something.  
  
"Come on, you fool! Don't go there! He could easily punch you! Whoops! Too late! Look, go round behind him! No watch out for his leg-ouch!"  
  
All of the boys around them gave a "Oooooh" and a "Ouch" with a pained look on their faces.  
  
Dryden started shouting again.  
  
"Yes, that's it. Now this time, duck and kick! Remember that! Right, go in front-no, no! Not that way! Yes, that way! Right, now try to listen to me, and stop! No! Watch out for his fist! Kay, right! Get up and go round the front! Yes! No!! Whoops! Sorry, my mistake!"  
  
Van just looked at Dryden and put his middle finger up at him.  
  
He turned back to Dilandau, who looked completely deranged.  
  
He charged at Van, who moved out of the way.  
  
"Yes!" Shouted Dryden. "He's got the hang of it, guys!"  
  
Hitomi thought that Dilandau was getting into the fighting too much. Van looked as though he was just playing around, but Dilandau looked as though he wanted to burn the whole house down.  
  
He charged at Van and put him in a headlock.  
  
He started to laugh like a maniac, while Van was hitting him on the back for air.  
  
"Oooooooookay!" said Allen. "I think that's enough, you guys!"  
  
He approached Dilandau with great caution, and grabbed the arm that he was suffocating Van with. But immediately backed off when Dilandau turned to face him, with the words 'Touch me and Die, bitch!' practically written all over his face.  
  
Dilandau then let Van go, and Van straightened himself up. Just in time, to be smacked in the face by Dilandau. He fell to the ground, pretty much screwed.  
  
Folken, Allen and Daniel all whooped.  
  
Hitomi got off her place on the sofa, and crouched down to help Van.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked.  
  
"I will be," said Van smugly.  
  
"What do you -?"  
  
Van swiftly swung his leg into Dilandau's feet, and knocked him to the ground.  
  
Dilandau fell flat on his back.  
  
Millerna, Dryden and Hitomi cheered.  
  
"Against the rules!" shouted Folken.  
  
"But no body mentioned any rules!" argued Hitomi.  
  
"Well..eh.DAMNIT!"  
  
Everyone laughed at Folken's stupidity.  
  
"Aw, crap!" he shouted. "It's really late! Come on, you guys! Bed! Now!"  
  
Everyone groaned, and moved into their separate rooms.  
  
Daniel and Dilandau got into their sleeping bags, and Hitomi went to get her pillow.  
  
She began to read a bit of Van's stories, and eventually Daniel and Dilandau fell asleep.  
  
After a while, Van came up to her.  
  
"Hitomi?" he said.  
  
"Yes Van?"  
  
"I'm just going to get a drink. I'll be back in a minute"  
  
"Kay."  
  
Hitomi got into her sleeping bag, and wriggled around a bit to get comfortable.  
  
The lights were off, but she could still see in the dark, as the kitchen light was on and the door was open.  
  
The words 'fire', 'burn' and 'die' were being mumbled under Dilandau's breath as he slept, which made Hitomi quite nervous as she was sleeping next to him.  
  
She could hear Van shuffling around a bit in the kitchen, and her thoughts about what she read in his journal lingered in her mind.  
  
'Could Van like me?' she asked herself.  
  
'Of course not!' said another voice.  
  
(A/N She's getting voices in her head now, is she? -.-;;)  
  
She decided to sleep on it, and she started to fall asleep. She closed her eyes for a while, and she then heard Van come through.  
  
She heard walking, then silence.  
  
Hitomi suspected that Van had got into his sleeping bag, and fallen asleep. But why could she feel that someone was standing near her and watching her?  
  
She decided to keep her eyes closed, and assumed it was just a weird feeling. She felt someone kneel next to her, and someone's lips catch her own.  
  
It was more of a long peck, until the person drew away.  
  
"Goodnight, Hitomi."  
  
She heard rustling, and then silence.  
  
Hitomi's heart was beating wildly.  
  
Van had just kissed her.  
  
She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. What should she do? Should she ask him about it?  
  
She looked over at Van, who wasn't asleep. He had his hand behind his head, and he too, was staring up at the ceiling. For a second, his eyebrows furrowed together, and he began to turn and look at Hitomi.  
  
She quickly closed her eyes, hoping that he thought she was asleep.  
  
'Van Fanel kissed me!' she thought, smiling as she fell asleep.  
A/N - I am being so nice to you, there's no word for it. You have no idea how much you don't deserve me!!! You all better update your fics for this!! And I'd like to say WELCOME BACK LW!!! From your short but heart-breaking departure!! And well done Shara Schezar for being a completely wicked sister and posting up her stories! *Wipes away a tear* I wish my sisters were that nice to be! And yes, Shara, we U.K girls DO know how to PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!  
Hitomi's eyes fluttered open, and she stared up at the ceiling. She heard clatters in the kitchen.  
  
She wriggled out of her sleeping bag, and checked the time. 10.51  
  
She looked down, and slightly laughed at the boys' sleeping forms.  
  
Dilandau had his arms and legs EVERYWHERE, and was slightly drooling. Hitomi could still hear him mutter 'Fire' and 'Burn'.  
  
She looked over at Daniel, who slept relatively normal. Then she looked over at Van, whose arm was where Hitomi's head had been, and his mouth was also open.  
  
Hitomi wanted a camera more than anything in the world at that moment.  
  
She heard another clutter in the kitchen, and assumed that it was Folken. She walked quietly in there, and saw Van's mother humming to herself and putting the pots and pans in the cupboards.  
  
She turned when she heard a small noise made by Hitomi.  
  
She smiled.  
  
"Oh, hello dear," she said in a soft voice.  
  
"Hi," said Hitomi.  
  
"It's Hitomi, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah," said Hitomi. "Hitomi Kanzaki."  
  
"Okay then. Would you like a cup of tea? I was just making myself one. We might as well talk or something, seeing as those slobs won't be up until about 12."  
  
Hitomi slightly laughed and agreed to have some tea.  
  
Mrs. Fanel and Hitomi sat around the counter, and sipped their tea.  
  
"So," said Mrs. Fanel. "Van seems to like you a lot. He's told us an awful lot about you."  
  
"Oh, wow," said Hitomi softly. She'd never had a parent tell her that their child likes her. It was usually the opposite.  
  
"I would like to meet your mother," said Mrs. Fanel. "Ifs she's anything like you, she should be a very nice woman."  
  
"Oh, thank you," said Hitomi. "My mother.um.. died a few years ago."  
  
Mrs. Fanel looked outraged with herself.  
  
"Oh, I am so sorry!" she said. "I didn't mean to put my foot in it or anything. So, is it just you and your brother and father at home, then?"  
  
"Um.. no," said Hitomi. "My dad died a few years ago too. It's just me, Daniel and my little brother, Julien."  
  
"Oh, I am so sorry!"  
  
"That's okay."  
  
Mrs. Fanel looked at Hitomi, and took a sip from her tea.  
  
"You don't have to keep on calling me Mrs. Fanel, y'know. Call me Varie."  
  
"Um.okay."  
  
Voices could be heard in the next room, and they didn't sound very much awake.  
  
"God, what's the time?"  
  
"11.10"  
  
"Urgh! No! It's too early!"  
  
Shuffled footsteps were heard, and Van was the first to emerge, his hair even more messy (If that's possible), and rubbing his eyes.  
  
He gave them an 'I am half-asleep, please kill me know' grin, and sat down on one of the chairs around the work-surface.  
  
"Good morning," said Varie. "Sleep well?"  
  
Van just mumbled.  
  
"That's good."  
  
Obviously over the years, Varie has picked up Van's early morning language, one of the rare gifts that very few mothers can understand. (A/N My mum can't understand me- but then again, on a weekend, I don't see the light of day until at least 12.00 in the afternoon.)  
  
Daniel and Dilandau came through and sat down, also looking terribly rough.  
  
Folken, Millerna, Allen and Dryden were obviously sleeping in, as they usually had to get up early for college.  
  
"Cooked breakfast?" asked Varie, smiling at the teenagers.  
  
Van grunted.  
  
"Okay, I'll just make that all for you now."  
  
Hitomi thought that Varie was some kind of super-mum.  
When they were all full with food and ready for the next day, they couldn't decide what they wanted to do.  
  
Daniel, Hitomi and Dilandau were talking in the living room, when Varie called Van over.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
Varie smiled a bit.  
  
"If your father wants to speak to you over the next few days, just go to him, okay?"  
  
Van couldn't help but be a bit suspicious.  
  
"Why?" he asked slowly.  
  
"He just wants to talk to you about girls and things." She said simply.  
  
A look of horror passed by Van's face.  
  
'Oh God!' he thought. 'Please let me die before my dad gets home or needs to talk to me!'  
  
"There's no need to look so scared!" said Varie, shaking her head and smiling.  
  
'Yeah,' thought Van bitterly. 'Not if what Folken said is true.'  
  
He quickly muttered something that his mother could understand as 'whatever' and hurried off to talk to his friends.  
  
When Hitomi and Daniel arrived home later on in the day, Daniel stated that he was too tired to do anything, and went off to bed. Hitomi was then left to wait up for Julien. (When I say wait up, I mean that she's too tired to do anything, and she can't be bothered to wait until he came home.)  
  
While she waited, all she could think about was the little kiss Van had given her the night before.  
  
'Why did he do it?' she thought. 'And what he wrote about me in his diary. It all seems kinda weird.'  
  
She sighed to herself.  
  
Dilandau was a pretty cool guy. She wondered why Van and him disliked each other so much, but she decided she could wait till Monday.  
  
Hitomi closed her eyes, and went to sleep, hoping that Julien hadn't forgotten to take his key to his friends.  
WOW!! That's the most I've eva written. You guys owe me, and you owe me big!!! PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE review LOTS!!! I need the publicity! God, I'm a loser. See, this is how much I crave your reviews!!! 


	17. The Talk!

Howdi peeps! Sorry I haven't updated for like, ages. I beg for your forgiveness! Anyway, on with the fic! Oh, and Stargazer! Nice talking to you on MSN! You rock! You too JAH!!!!  
Hitomi walked through the gates of the school building just as the bell was going. She couldn't be bothered to run. She could run if she wanted too, as she used to be on the school track team. But when her parents died, she gave up and became an outcast and a beyotch.  
  
She walked into the classroom, and all of the heads turned to look at her. The teacher gave her a funny look, but didn't say anything.  
  
Hitomi just looked around, and saw Dilandau standing next to the teacher, obviously being introduced.  
  
He grinned at her, and she grinned back.  
  
She looked back at the teacher, who pointed her finger towards the doorway. Hitomi rolled her eyes, and sludged outside to wait to be bored out of her mind.  
  
The rest of the class turned to look back at Dilandau, who was grinning at all of them. Van sat at the back, glaring.  
  
He turned his head, and noticed Amy, Madison's friend, looking at Dilandau with a weird 'mmmmmmmm, dinner' expression on her face.  
  
Van just rolled his eyes.  
  
"Now," said the teacher. Dilandau, you go and take a place in front of Van, while I go and deal with Hitomi."  
  
The teacher briskly walked out of the room, and shouts could be heard throughout the corridor.  
  
Dilandau strode over to the seat in front of Van, a smug smile on his face.  
  
"What are you so happy about?" asked Van.  
  
Dilandau's head swung to look at him.  
  
"I love knowing who your friends are," spoke Dilandau, looking absentmindedly at his hand.  
  
"Why?" snapped Van.  
  
"And I also love knowing exactly who you 'like'."  
  
"What the hell do you mean, Dilandau?"  
  
Dilandau jerked his head over to the door.  
  
"I'll get her, y'know. Just to get on your stupid little nerves. And when you strike out, that's when Hitomi'll know who's best. And let's face it, she's gonna pick me. I have to cool, silver hair, the red eyes, the gorgeous face and the hot body. You just a stupid little twig who tags after everyone."  
  
Van pretended not to know what Dilandau was on about, but it didn't help when all of the color was missing from his face.  
  
Dilandau just grinned even more.  
  
"Oh, come on Van! You didn't possibly think that Hitomi would choose you! I mean, look at you! Your so pathetic!"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Van replied, coldly.  
  
Dilandau just smirked, and turned around, as he spotted the teacher and a grinning Hitomi coming through the door.  
  
The teacher made her way to her desk, as Hitomi took her place next to Van.  
  
"Hey Dilandau," said Hitomi as she sat down.  
  
"Hey 'Tomi," said Dilandau, shooting Van an evil smile.  
  
Van just scowled.  
  
"Now," interrupted the teacher's voice. "We have a new student today. Dilandau Albatau."  
  
All of the students looked around to see this new boy, but Dilandau leant to one side, put a tired grin on his face, and kept his cool.  
  
Van could see that Dilandau was gonna be popular with the girls- he could see most of them gazing at him with dreamy eyes.  
  
He could also see that he wasn't going to be as popular with the boys, as some of them were putting a protective arm around they're girlfriends, and others were eying the girls they liked, seeing a tough competition.  
  
Van sighed and turned his head towards the front of the class. The teacher was droning on about World War 2, and the heat of the summer's day was getting to him.  
  
He began to think of when he had kissed Hitomi....  
  
*Flashback *  
  
Van saw Hitomi sleeping. She looked like and angel. He suddenly had the urge to kiss her. He didn't know whether it was because she and Dilandau had kissed earlier, or because she had never looked so beautiful. He decided what he was going to do, as he finished his drink. He turned the kitchen light off, and walked into the living room. He watched her for a few minutes, sleeping there. She stirred a little, but did not wake. He quickly did it before he changed his mind.  
  
*End Flashback *  
  
He was brought out of his daydream, as he felt someone tap his shoulder.  
  
"Van?" she whispered. "Van?"  
  
He looked over at Hitomi.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked.  
  
"A note from Dilandau."  
  
Van curiously picked up the folded piece of paper, and read the message on it. He turned away slightly from Hitomi, incase she tried to read it.  
  
'Having naughty daydream's about Hitomi, were we Van?'  
  
Van quickly scrunched up the note, and turned bright red.  
  
He looked over at Hitomi, and saw that she was looking at her hands as she fidgeted with them, a faint blush on her cheeks.  
  
Van quickly spun around away from her.  
  
'OH MY GOD!!!!!!' he thought. 'She read the note. I'm gonna KILL you, Dilandau!'  
  
*End of school *  
  
Hitomi went straight to her locker, thinking about that note.  
  
'Is that true? What Dilandau wrote? Is Van just using me and joking about me to the rest of the boys behind my back?'  
  
"Hey," said Dilandau. "Can I walk you home?"  
  
Hitomi smiled and nodded, as the two made their way out of the school.  
  
**********************************  
  
Van opened the front door of his house, and dumped his bag on the floor. He looked up, and the first thing he saw was his father with his arms folded, and a big smile on his face.  
  
"Hey son," he said.  
  
Van arched one of his eyebrows, and saw Folken standing behind his father, a hand over his mouth as he was sniggering.  
  
'Oh holy shit!' thought Van. 'The talk!'  
  
"Van?" asked his father. "Are you feeling okay? You look a bit pale."  
  
"I-I'm okay." Stuttered Van.  
  
"Okay." Said his father. "Listen, Van. Why don't you go upstairs? I'll be up there in a minute."  
  
All Van could do was nod his head, as his father walked into the kitchen.  
  
Folken burst out laughing.  
  
"Man!" he said, still laughing. "You are so screwed! I don't think I've ever seen you look so ill!"  
  
"Shut up," snapped Van, as he made his way to his room.  
  
Van changed into a navy blue t-shirt, and some black jeans. After about 5 minutes, he heard a knock at the door.  
  
Van closed his eyes, took a deep breath and said, "Come in."  
  
His father came in, holding 6 cans of beer.  
  
"Hey Van," he said, putting on a smile. "Why don't we drink a couple of beers? Have a little talk.  
  
Van took his beer, and drank it as fast as he could, hoping he would get drunk and not remember a word of this.  
  
"Now," said his father. "When boys get to your age, they start to get feelings towards the opposite gender."  
  
Van could feel a blush creeping onto his cheeks.  
  
His father continued.  
  
"And when that happens, a relationship may develop."  
  
Van relaxed a little. This wasn't as bad as Folken made it out to be.  
  
"However," his father said.  
  
Van immediately tensed up again.  
  
"If these relationships become serious, certain precautions will need to be taken when the two of you want to show affection towards each other, to avoid having serious consequences."  
  
There was a long silence.  
  
When Van felt he could finally take no more of it, he quickly mumbled, "Can I have another beer dad?"  
  
"What?" his dad said. "Have you not been listening to a word I've said?"  
  
Van looked up.  
  
"Yeah, I have. It's just that."  
  
"What?" his dad asked.  
  
"It's just that it's embarrassing." And he quickly held out his hand for the beer.  
  
His father sighed and handed it out.  
  
Van opened the beer, but just stared down at it.  
  
"Son," said his father. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about with all of this girl stuff. There's nothing wrong with it."  
  
Van just shrugged.  
  
"Your mother and I, we just want to meet the girl you decide to.you decide to.show your affections too. We don't want you too turn out as a man who sleeps around- we want you to be serious about these things. Okay?"  
  
"Yes," said Van firmly, still staring at his beer.  
  
Goau paused.  
  
"Is there.is there a girl who you've.been with.the 'proper adult' way?"  
  
"Dad! Please!" said Van loudly.  
  
"Yes, yes. I'm sorry son. I didn't mean to say that. But I need to know if you need help, like if you.get a girl pregnant or something."  
  
"Oh my God!" Van whispered quietly as he closed his eyes.  
  
"You do know what to use, don't you? And you have some 'handy'?"  
  
Van would do anything right now, ANYTHING to get out of this.  
  
Son?" asked his father. "Do you?"  
  
Van mumbled something.  
  
"Because if you don't," Goau started again. "You could ask me or some money to get some from a shop. There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Or if you don't want to do that, you could borrow a few from me. I have some, as your mother and I still-"  
  
Van stood up.  
  
"Okay! Dad! I get it!" he said loudly.  
  
"It's alright Van," said Goau. "Just sit down. It really doesn't matter."  
  
Van took a deep breath, and reluctantly sat back down.  
  
"Now," said Goau. "Where was I?"  
  
Just then, the doorbell rang.  
  
Van shot out of the room like a bullet.  
  
"I'll get it!" he yelled.  
  
He ran to the door, and answered it, thanking God multiple times in his head.  
  
"Hi-Hitomi," he said. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Hitomi was wearing her running trousers, her trainers and a white strappy top. She had obviously just been out for a run, as she was slightly out of breath and her cheeks had a faint red tint to them- although that may not have been due to her run.  
  
"I came to return your stories," she said in a quiet voice.  
  
"Oh," said Van. "Thank you."  
  
She handed them over, and Van took them.  
  
"They're really good," she eagerly said. "I really think that you could get a job as an author. Your talented."  
  
Van was about to thank her, when, to his horror, he heard his dad coming down the stairs.  
  
Hitomi bowed her head slightly.  
  
"Hello Mr. Fanel." She said politely.  
  
Van turned around to look at his dad, who was staring right back at him, with a knowing type of expression on his face. Goau then turned to look at Hitomi, raised his eyebrows in a way that Van REALLY didn't like the look of. And replied to her, "Hello Hitomi dear! It's good to see you again. Varie was just making dinner. Would you like to join us?"  
  
Van started to curse his dad in his head. "Son of a -"  
  
But was cut off halfway when Hitomi replied, "Yes please, Mr. Fanel. That would be lovely. Thank you."  
  
Mr. Fanel smiled.  
  
"Okay then. It will be lovely to have you. I'll go and tell Varie to set up the table for one extra."  
  
He walked into the kitchen, leaving Van and Hitomi alone.  
  
"Well, I guess you should come in then," said Van, opening the door a bit wider.  
***************************************  
Sorry! Please forgive me! I haven't updated for soooooooooooooooooooooo long! Please, please, please forgive me! Anyway, R&R and I'll love you more! 


	18. The Kiss

A/N: Soz for not updating sooner!! Please forgive me!!! R&R!! And for the first time ever, a disclaimer!!! I have never done 1!!! I completely forgot!! Whoops!! So, throughout the whole story, I have not owned Escaflowne, and I never will. Or will I.? Lol. Nah, I'm just joking. Hehe.  
  
Chapter 18-The Kiss  
  
Hitomi followed Van into the sitting room, where Folken was sat on the couch, eating a massive bowl full of popcorn, with soda in his other hand. He was watching the 'Big Game'.  
  
"Come on you fool!" he was screaming at the T.V, while popcorn sprayed from his mouth, flying everywhere. "NO! Don't turn that way!! Run forwards! Not backwards! No.URGH!"  
  
Folken stood up, and threw the bowl of popcorn at the T.V, and turned to see Van and Hitomi staring at him, with huge sweat-drops over their heads.  
  
"Oh, hey Van. Hitomi," said Folken, in a unusually calm voice after his rage at the T.V. "So, Van. Did dad 'talk' to you then?"  
  
Van immediately went bright red, and made a strange choking noise.  
  
"I'll take that as a yes then," said Folken, smirking. "Ah, you're growing up so fast, ickle Vannie. But, you know, that advice dad gave you might come in handy sooner than you'd expect," he added, nodding towards Hitomi.  
  
Hitomi looked curiously at Van, who turned even redder. Folken laughed at the two of them, and walked off into the kitchen, cackling evilly.  
  
"What did he mean by that?" asked Hitomi, still staring at Van.  
  
"Oh, I dunno," said Van, shoving his hands in his pockets.  
  
Hitomi shrugged, and Van walked up to his room, Hitomi following him.  
  
They both sat down at his desk, and began discussing how boring school was. Hitomi looked around her, and saw lots of empty beer cans. She smiled.  
  
"So," she said, turning to Van. "You dad gave you the nice talk then?"  
  
Van stared at her, and began stuttering. This made her smile even more.  
  
"Don't worry about it," she said to him. "I recently had to give Daniel the talk too."  
  
Van opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish, and thankfully, his mother called them both down for dinner.  
  
Once everyone had seated themselves (Van sat next to Merle, Hitomi sat next to Folken, and Van's mother and father sat on each end of the table), everyone began to eat.  
  
"So," said Mr. Fanel. "Van. Thought about what I said earlier? I'm always willing to help a son in need."  
  
Folken and Mrs. Fanel smirked, while Van muttered something, and bent over his plate even more.  
  
"What was that son?" said Mr. Fanel. "Can't quite hear you."  
  
"I said no!" snapped Van.  
  
Mr. Fanel caught his wife's eye, and they both began laughing. Folken kicked Van under the table, and an evil grin appeared on his face.  
  
"I would also be willing to help you out, little bro," said Folken, winking.  
  
"Oh, shut up!"  
  
Folken sniggered, and went back to eating his dinner.  
  
"So, Merle?" said Mr. Fanel. "How was dance class?"  
  
Merle paused from eating. "Well, it was okay. It's starting to get a bit difficult."  
  
"Ah, well. You never know. Van might be able to help you out some time." Said Folken.  
  
"Will you shut up?!"  
  
Folken laughed, and looked at Van. He raised his hands over his head like a ballerina, and began slowly spinning his chair around. Suddenly he slipped, and fell off.  
  
Van burst out laughing, but soon began choking. Folken pointed at him and began laughing, until Van, still coughing, picked up a piece of bread and chucked it at Folken. It hit him squarely in the face.  
  
Mrs. Fanel buried her face in her hands. "Oh no, not again!"  
  
Hitomi looked at Van, amused. 'Not again?' she thought. 'So food fight's at the Fanel's was usual?'  
  
Folken picked up the bread, and smashed it right back at Van. Merle joined in, by throwing mac and cheese at Folken. Soon, it had turned into a full- blown fight. What shocked Hitomi, was that Van's mother and father were both joining in and laughing.  
  
"Get down Hitomi!" shouted Mrs. Fanel, laughing. Hitomi dived under the table, and began to laugh. Van's head appeared under the table, and he threw some mac and cheese at Hitomi. She screamed, but laughed all the same.  
  
Half an hour later, when the food fight was over, Hitomi and Van went upstairs to clean themselves up.  
  
"Are all of your family dinners this crazy?" Hitomi asked Van, bemused.  
  
"Well, with Folken there, they're bound to be."  
  
Hitomi laughed, and wiped a bit of cheese from her arm.  
  
"Well not really, but Folken doesn't usually eat with us because he's always at college so when he comes home we all just kinda let loose!"  
  
Hitomi laughed again, and put the flannel she was cleaning herself with back in the bathroom sink.  
  
Van shoved his flannel in the sink with Hitomi's, and they both walked back downstairs. Van's mum, dad, sister and brother were all watching T.V.  
  
"I'm just taking Hitomi home," Van called out to them.  
  
Varie turned to look at them both, and said "Oh, okay. Come any time, Hitomi dear."  
  
Hitomi smiled. "Thank you, Mrs. Fanel. Dinner was lovely."  
  
Varie smiled, and nodded at Hitomi. Van opened the front door for Hitomi, and he closed it after he had walked through, following her.  
  
For a while, the two of them walked in silence, enjoying each other's company.  
  
"So," said Van, after what had seemed like an age of silence. "Did you like my stories then?"  
  
"Oh yes," said Hitomi, enthusiastically. "They were great. I especially liked the one with that weird dragon armour thing in it."  
  
"Oh yeah," chuckled Van. That's my favorite too."  
  
They discussed Van's stories for a while longer, until they came to a stop outside Hitomi's house.  
  
"Well," said Hitomi, putting her hands in her pockets. "This is my stop."  
  
"Yeah," Van muttered, looking at Hitomi. "Yeah, I'll guess I'll see you."  
  
"Yeah," Hitomi replied. "Yeah. Thanks for dinner."  
  
"Yeah, that was nothing."  
  
Hitomi laughed. "We say yeah a lot!"  
  
"Yeah", Van laughed.  
  
"So," said Hitomi, her laughter dying down. 'What happens now?'  
  
"I guess you should go inside," said Van. 'Should I or shouldn't I?'  
  
'I wonder if he likes me in the way I like him.'  
  
'What if she totally rejects me?'  
  
'He probably won't. A guy like him wouldn't like me.'  
  
'She used to be such a bitch, but she seems to have softened up when she's around me.or maybe that's just my imagination.'  
  
'I have been nicer than I used to be when he moved here.'  
  
'I'm the most popular guy in the school, AND I'm bloody gorgeous. Who could resist me? .Screw it, I'm doing it anyway.'  
  
Van looked at Hitomi. She was chewing her bottom lip nervously. "Well. I'd better get go.." She started, but Van was advancing on her. He nervously tilted his head towards hers, and his eyes fluttered shut. When he kissed her, she felt like she was about to explode. His kiss was.perfect. Just like him. Eventually, she began to get into the kiss, and Van loosened up a bit. They both deepened the kiss at the same time, and they both drew back, grinning at each other. No words had to be said. The couple just smiled and looked into each other's eyes, looking forward to a future in each other's company.  
  
Ah!!!! The chessyness!!!!! Well, that IS the end!!! In your reviews (If I get any, sniff, sniff) tell me if you would like a sequel!!!! What should be in it?! Your comments DO help!!!! And a special thank to my older sister, who help me a lot in writing this fic. And another special thanx to all the people who reviewed!!!! I love you guys!!! So, it is over, my first fanfic.but not my last!!! R&R! I love you guys!!!  
  
~PrincessCool~ 


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